Cathay Cargo took its special handling expertise to Asia’s leading perishables showcase, Asia Fruit Logistica, held in Hong Kong in the first week of September, with an exhibition booth based around its Cathay Fresh special shipment solution. The three-day event’s opening hours experienced some disruption from the passing Typhoon Yagi, but that did not dampen enthusiasm among exhibitors across the halls of the city’s Asia World Expo complex.  

Cathay Cargo built an impressive stand featuring a mock-up of an air-cargo freighter with its nose open ready for loading, decorated throughout with the fresh produce of the types that Cathay Cargo carries, and a section dedicated to the Cathay Cargo Terminal, which offers many of the facilities, including its MobiFresh storage units, that have been designed for temperature-sensitive cargoes. With the upcoming revamp of Cathay Cargo’s Cathay Fresh solution, this was an ideal opportunity to demonstrate Cathay Cargo’s expertise and care to the perishables market when it comes to shipping goods from fine black truffles from Australia to the first Vietnamese pomelos to be exported to the US. 

Cathay Fresh’s remit also includes chilled meats and live seafood, but with much of the world’s fruit and vegetable producers and exporters in town, it was important to demonstrate its credentials to this growing market, which is seeing demand for quality fresh products. The revamp comes at a time when fresh and unpreserved products, out of season or not, are in demand from people across the globe. 

Director Cargo Tom Owen attended the first day to collect the three IATA CEIV recertifications, including CEIV Fresh, and to meet customers. ‘It’s very important to demonstrate our abilities to carry specialist cargo, which is obviously much harder to handle,’ he said. ‘ By partnering with the Cathay Cargo Terminal on the booth we can show how we can integrate customers’ cold chain requirements with our operations teams on the ground and in the air to ensure that their cargo will maintain its freshness.’

Cathay Cargo’s booth served shippers and forwarders of perishable goods by offering information and interactive quizzes. It also enabled representatives to engage directly with this vital market, as emphasised by Head of Cargo Marketing Ricardo Lo. ‘While the booth drew visitors to learn about our products and services, interaction with our team was also crucial,’ he says. ‘Engaging with our team, who actively promoted our solutions, was an effective way to enhance awareness and increase consideration.’

In addition to the main event, there were also trips organised to Zhuhai to see new and forthcoming solutions for the shipment of perishables directly into alternative points in the Greater Bay Area and tours of the Cathay Cargo Terminal, as well as a drinks reception in hotel The Upper House.