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New technology for Ethiopian horticulture producers
and exporters was introduced during the workshop at
the Hilton Hotel on Thursday, September 3 by
Australian company, Peakfresh Pty Ltd.
Present at the workshop were Tsegaye Abebe, chairman
of the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters
Association (EHPEA), Solomon Sibhatu, managing
director of Menagesha Flowers, and Getachew Muleta,
marketing and logistics officer of Dire Flowers.
There were also the representatives of the
Australian company.
The workshop, organized by EHPEA, was to facilitate
the use of long sea freight transport for Ethiopian
producers by using the new product which could keep
flowers and vegetables fresh for up to 21 days.
The new product is a special plastic bag that works
by removing ethylene gas, which is released by most
fruits and vegetables after harvest; the exposure to
this very gas accelerates aging and ultimate
deterioration.
The new bags use an organic mineral to remove
ethylene gas and prolong the life and freshness of
the produce. The bags also have pores through which
the damaging gases produced by the fresh produce
escape. And it has been successfully tried in
Colombia and Ecuador.
The technology will allow exporters to keep the
flowers and vegetables fresh for a long time,
enabling them to use cheaper transport by sea,
cutting transportation cost by 40 to 50pc, after
adding the 0.70 dollar cents cost of the plastic
bag. The exporters pay 1.85 dollars per kilogram of
flowers using air transport.
"Within three months we will make trial voyages and
if effective, we will ask the company to have a
branch or an agent in Ethiopia," said Tsegaye.
At the workshop, samples of preserved flowers were
displayed, and the attendants of the workshop had
the chance to inspect the bags.
"It is a very important product, especially for
vegetables which have more weight than flowers,"
said Solomon, Menagesha's managing director.
Three shipping companies: Messina Line of Italy,
Mersk Line of Denmark, and Ethiopian Shipping Lines
(ESL) all welcomed the product. The two foreign
companies had been trying to work out deals with
exporters to give them refrigerated container
service for shipping their products. Mersk had
already, made a trial voyage from Djibouti and
Rotterdam carrying frozen strawberries. ESL which
does not have refrigerated containers, offered only
to provide technical advice and support by using its
network with its partners around the world.
"We can even use the plastic bags for very sensitive
flowers types in an air trip," said Getachew, Dire's
marketing manager. He was packaging a sample using
the plastic bag at the flower field during his
exchange with Fortune.
"The long trip will not affect our market", he said
and added that environment friendly customers would
appreciate the new product and the transportation by
sea explained Tsegaye. |
