Schiphol Cargo hosts flower shippers’ forum at Air Cargo Africa 2015
The session will be attended by major growers, specialist forwarders, handlers, airports, airlines, truckers and perishables supply chain experts, providing a forum for debate and the exchange of views and ideas.
Under the title “Perishables by Air: Grounds for Change?”, the session will adopt the “Schiphol Format” – in which the audience is arranged in round tables, with an informed expert on each. The moderator – Schiphol Cargo’s Snr VP Enno Osinga – will lead with probing questions designed to stimulate debate and input from the floor.
Arranging the session and recruiting suitable experts is Bart Pouwels, Schiphol Cargo’s perishables supply chain specialist. He says: “The work we have already done, on assisting African shippers to re-examine their supply chains, has proven very beneficial both to growers and to Schiphol’s own logistics community – as the airport has further developed its standing as Europe’s gateway for inbound perishables traffic from around the world.
“This Air Shippers’ Forum session on flowers and perishables - held with the support and collaboration of STAT Times, which owns the Air Cargo Africa and Air Cargo India events – is a further effort to encourage greater sophistication in perishables supply chain engineering. This requires the full engagement of all parties, and a ground-up review of how the chain functions.”
Concludes Pouwels: “Perishables is big business for airfreight, and there are further unexploited business opportunities ahead. But we could also lose our existing business unless we continue to improve, and so reinforce airfreight’s role in the supply chain.”
The Netherlands is one of the most important export markets for South Africa, and the South African Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (SANEC) has successfully brought together many Dutch and South African companies in this sector. Schiphol Cargo has therefore enlisted SANEC’s help in promoting the event; says its Business Development Director, Paul van den Brink: “We have over 25 years’ experience, and an extensive network of local contacts within flower growers, exporters and regulatory bodies. We will invite all these contacts to this important event.”
Attendance at “Perishables by Air: Grounds for Change?” is free, but places are limited. To reserve your place, or to find out more about AIR CARGO AFRICA 2015, please contact Prasun Saha, Event Coordinator at airshippersforum@statevent.com
For more information
Schiphol Cargo
Pilot Marketing
Derek Jones, Account Director
T: +44 (0)20 8941 5381
Email: j@pilotmarketing.co.uk
Press Relations Department
T: +31 20 601 2673
Email: press@schiphol.nl