© FX Logistics"Zimbabwe's location gives it a good window to supply berries when Poland is finishing," says Huub Riemslag of FX Logistics, the Zimbabwean division of the Dutch Airflo group which also runs operations in Nairobi, Amsterdam and Dubai. "Peruvian blueberries haven't fully started, and South Africa is still ramping up. This is a good time to sell berries."
Right: blueberries for sea freight
Blueberries have become the top perishable export through Zimbabwe's system, he remarks, supplanting fresh cut flowers. FX Logistics is a Zimbabwe based agent of freight forwarding services focused on exporting highly perishable horticultural product. Their cold rooms at Harare airport have been operational for the last 25 years.
"Blueberries have grown exponentially but the Zim blueberry market is still developing and looking for the best varieties in order to serve the different markets the best possible way. Yields for farms are improving as the farms fine-tune pre-harvest practices. Some older plantings are being replaced with new, earlier-yielding varieties."
Dubai to Hong Kong e-commerce erodes Africa-EU route
"We've started receiving blueberry air freight bookings for the EU again this year. Last year we ran berry charters with 747s to Amsterdam, but this year they'll fly there via South Africa on freighters and passenger aircrafts."
Higher paying e-commerce routes via Dubai to Hong Kong have lured the cargo planes of airlines like KLM/Martinair away. "Sea freight is growing, driven by cost and EU supermarket sustainability goals. Air freight to the EU remains expensive from Harare, partly because Middle Eastern carriers are congested on their lanes to the EU with air freight goods from Asia due to the Red Sea ocean freight disruptions."
As a result of higher air freight costs to the EU, the majority of blueberry air freight is now flown to the Middle East and the Far East.
© FX Logistics
Export pea prices under pressure
"The pea season wasn't as strong as previous years," he says. "Prices in the EU and UK were under pressure due to early arrivals from other markets, which pushed Zimbabwean peas from air to sea freight earlier than usual.
With limited resources like electricity water, labour and packhouse capacity, many farms can't run both peas and blueberries at full scale, he remarks, and at the same time of the year, and many have chosen blueberries over peas.
"Our operations are seasonal. Berries and peas dominate during their windows. Outside those periods, we handle other Southern Hemisphere summer horticultural products. We are open to handle other temperature-sensitive perishables. Zimbabwe is a smaller market compared to our operations in Kenya or the Netherlands. The more volume we move, the better the rates we can offer back to the farms. Please reach out to discuss freight opportunities for perishables out of Zimbabwe."
© FX Logistics
The FX Logistics operations office at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, Harare
For more information:
Huub Riemslag
FX Logistics Zimbabwe
Tel: +263 24 2575220
Email: [email protected]
www.airflo.nl