The cold chain sector in India has seen enormous focus and development over the last few years. An important link within the sector is cold chain transport which ensures safe and timely delivery of temperature-sensitive goods such as fruits, vegetables, ice-creams, pharmaceuticals, etc. At the forefront of these developments in the Indian market is the global refrigeration leader Carrier Transicold. With its class-leading product offering, superior technology know-how and special efforts made to reach out to relevant stakeholders, Carrier has been contributing immensely towards the development of the cold chain sector in the country. We find out more in an exclusive interview with Mr. Pankaj Mehta, Country Head & Director, Carrier Transicold India.
Excerpts:
How has 2015 been for Carrier? What are the major developments you’ve had this year?
The cold chain in India is still at a nascent stage and is making steady progress. Over the last 3 to 5 years, the organized retail and food services industries have emerged as new segments for the cold chain in India. There is a clear and gradual shift in the consumption patterns in favor of ready-to-eat food and the emergence of leading quick service restaurant chains. Organized retail of frozen meats and fresh vegetables in malls and other retail stores has also increased.
Carrier Transicold India helps improve global transport and shipping temperature control with a complete line of equipment for refrigerated trucks and trailers.
How have your new products launched in the last couple of years, like the Citifresh, performed? What about the customers’ reaction?
Carrier Transicold India’s new Citifresh range of fresh-only truck refrigeration units has been very well received. It is designed to meet India’s growing demand for transportation of fruits, vegetables, dairy and confectionary products using refrigerated trucks.
India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, and as such there is significant opportunity to deliver fresh and healthy food throughout India. The Citifresh range is ideal for transporting chilled products on medium- to large commercial vehicles with a loading capacity of 16 to 55 cubic meters.
The Citifresh range’s robust design and stainless steel evaporator are easy to install and maintain and are ideally suited for demanding applications, including high ambient conditions up to 50 degrees Celsius. The range delivers exceptional value by virtue of its low initial cost and lower maintenance and operational costs, while a dashboard-mounted DIN controller offers ease of use.
As with all Carrier Transicold products, the Citifresh range comes with the security and peace-of-mind of an extensive aftermarket service network. A highly-skilled team of certified technicians, regularly trained in the installation, maintenance and repair of Carrier Transicold refrigeration products, is ready to support customer fleets across a pan-India network of nearly 50 service centres.
The cold chain sector seems to be gaining more importance with the Government taking a lot of interesting initiatives. What are your views on the same and how would Carrier benefit from the development?
Carrier Transicold India has been actively involved with initiatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in creating awareness about the cold chain.
We are members of the Cold Chain Task Force of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) set up under the aegis of the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Center of Cold Chain Development (NCCD).
Members of the Carrier Transicold India team are regular speakers at various cold chain conferences organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Food Processing to promote cold chain use and reduce food wastage. They have also been involved in providing training to cold chain operators and reefer truck drivers. The training is organised by the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) and the Global Cold Chain Alliance.
Carrier Transicold India continues to work with all stakeholders in the Indian cold chain sector in creating awareness of the advantages of a developed cold chain infrastructure aimed at reducing food wastage and providing better value to the Indian consumer.
As a trend-setter in technology, what have been the advancements on this front as far as the Indian market is concerned? Apart from technology and product, how do you differentiate your brand from the rest of the competition in terms of value-added services and the like?
Carrier Transicold is an industry leader for refrigerated transportation equipment that helps to protect and preserve fresh and frozen food, pharmaceuticals and other perishables during road transport in trucks, trailers and vans.
Carrier Transicold India recognizes that the Indian cold chain needs specific equipment capable of operating in high-ambient conditions. Our high capacity Oasis diesel drive range was launched specifically for India and Middle East applications. These models are certified to operate in conditions reaching 50 degrees Celsius and have proved extremely successful, especially for large frozen applications. Based on the Indian market requirement of smaller capacity units that can operate directly off the vehicle engine, we introduced the Viento range which is an ideal solution for city distribution delivery vans catering to the growing chilled product category of fruits and vegetables, pharmaceuticals and processed foods.
Also, there is significant opportunity to deliver fresh and healthy food throughout India. The recently introduced Citifresh range is ideal for transporting chilled products on medium- to large commercial vehicles with a loading capacity of 16 to 55 cubic meters. All these products are designed to provide strong, reliable performance in hot, dusty, ambient conditions and offer superior pull down and cooling efficiency.
Carrier Transicold also manufactures a range of sophisticated refrigerated equipment for trailers and rail cars, and we are poised to introduce this equipment in India as the industry grows over the next few years.
Carrier Transicold India works with all stakeholders, including leading truck manufacturers, insulated box manufacturers and end users, at every stage to integrate the reefer equipment with the vehicle and to install and commission the equipment. Its strong warranty policy supports the reefer unit, and the customer is provided with training in operation, best loading practices and basic troubleshooting. It also conducts refresher courses for the customers’ drivers and operators on best practices to ensure optimum operating performance for reefer equipment.
Carrier Transicold India continues to utilize the research and development strength of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a part of United Technologies Corp., to bring the latest product innovations into India. No matter how demanding the application, the company will specify, design, install and service the right customized equipment.