MUMBAI: India’s leading digital freight logistics business - has announced a major boost for shippers with the launch of refrigerated (reefer) cargo services to and from destinations across the globe. Customers requiring cold storage shipping can now compare rates and book reefer containers through a host of partner shipping lines on the Cogoport e-freight booking platform.
India has experienced rapid and sustained growth in refrigerated exports during the past decade with commodities like fish, vegetables, fruit and nuts, meat, pharmaceuticals and chemicals driving demand for reefer import and export services.
Refrigerated exports from India grew by 27% in 2018, with shrimp the principal seafood export growing by 20%, with demand for seafood and Indian organic food driven from the North America, Europe, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Vietnam. The export of onions also rose by 15% year on year in 2018 over 2017.
Likewise, the import of refrigerated imports are also in greater demand – from markets including Germany, South Korea and Russia, driven by demand from India’s burgeoning middle class drives for perishable products.
Mr. Purnendu Shekhar, Founder and CEO of Cogoport says, “We are now able to pass on the benefits of Cogoport digital shipping to customers who move refrigerated goods – typically SMEs moving seafood, fruit and vegetables, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Existing customers using our platform confirm they save 10-15% on their logistics costs – including as many as 40-man hours per shipment – and we’re delighted to now extend those efficiencies to refrigerated cargo.”
“We are meeting significant demand for reefer exports to North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and to those importing refrigerated cargoes – enabling SME shippers all over India to deliver better productivity, service and profitability when moving their perishable cargoes,” he added.
Mr. Ankit Begwani, Founder and CEO of BegwaniGlobal, an existing customer of Cogoport, says: “We have had a great experience working with Cogoport, moving onions to different corners of the world – saving us time and budget. Like many other SMEs, we are also seeing huge demand for shipping of perishable cargoes, not least for fruit and vegetable exports to Malaysia & Dubai. This requires high operational output, optimization of shipments and customer satisfaction for delivering goods on time. Every cent matters to every SME business, and Cogoport has demonstrated that it can help deliver that value with better rates, better margins and better visibility.
Another Cogoport customer - Mr. Anish Patel of Jyoti Exports, exporting potatoes, majorly processed potatoes, and sometimes onions to markets across Asia and the Middle East - says: "Indian potatoes are in huge demand especially in countries like Malaysia, Jakarta, Vietnam, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Mauritius where there is a shortage of good quality potatoes because the geography and climate is not favourable. Freshness is key and an efficient refrigerated export system is vital for our exports. Cogoport is now delivering that for Jyoti – working with us 24/7 to provide value, 100% shipment tracking and visibility throughout the entire booking process flow, while also saving us cost on every consignment. We ship around 200 containers with Cogoport monthly and the best part is that Cogoport is always available - only a phone call away in case of any concern or issue."
While Abid Deraiya of Relish Agro, also a Cogoport customer says, “We export corn and a mix of vegetables to various countries in the Far East and Europe – where there’s high demand for our foods and for maize as a quality animal feed or industrial product. Cogoport gives us the complete shipping solution – an exceptional service, clarity in shipping rates, transparency, tracking and a fast customer response time. That’s essential when you’re moving perishable commodities and in this digital age we have a real partner in Cogoport, which adds such tremendous value to SMEs like us."