E-commerce giant JD.com to address Cool Logistics Asia
Li Haloun, Senior Planner for Fresh Products at Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com will be addressing Cool Logistics Asia delegates alongside Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong on September 7. JD.com is China’s leading online direct sales company and is the country’s largest Internet company by revenue, with 2015 turnover approaching US$28 billion.
Mr Li will talk about the logistical challenges of temperature-controlled distribution in Asia's leading fresh produce market and serving China’s new generation of online food consumer. In particular, he will address the issue of managing food safety during last mile delivery, a major challenge for the fast-growing business of food e-commerce.
As container lines are forming giant new alliances and launching ever bigger ships to drive down operating costs and curtail further shrinking profitability, the explosion of e-commerce in Asia is responding to evolving customer demand by promising smaller-sized fresh produce deliveries within ever smaller and tighter delivery windows. How to square the circle between these trends will be a key topic of discussion at this year’s conference.
Joining Mr Li on the stage will be Simon Pearson, the former Asda UK Supply Chain Executive who is now involved in setting up a new global food logistics network in China. The shipping keynote address will be given by Isabella Hu of COSCO Container Lines’ Global Sales Division, who will discuss the impact of the consolidation process in the container shipping sector and how this may affect the reefer segment.
Reflecting the accelerated change in the logistics market driven by food e-commerce in particular, a new section about LCL (less than container loads) shipping has also been added to the conference programme. LCL represents a small but a growing segment in the global cold chain sector that is attracting increasing interest from the freight forwarding sector.
Steve Alaerts, Director of Marketing and Sales at leading specialist food logistics service provider foodcareplus will join the LCL debate at Cool Logistics Asia. He says: "LCL is not for the faint-hearted. High rewards and high risk often go hand-in-hand. Shipping frozen cargo is much easier than shipping fresh.” The greatest challenge is always the last mile due to the risk of contamination, adds Mr. Alaerts. He will share the LCL platform with Clive Lawrance from World Food Logistics, an industry veteran with decades of experience in the airfreight industry and particular expertise in security issues. Certain reefer cargoes such as fresh produce and seafood cannot be co-loaded in the same load unit (container). One of the most critical issues that will also be discussed at the conference will be who should own and provide the reefer containers.
Meanwhile, maverick Alfred Cheung from Green Society Association will share his latest invention, an ‘organic ocean going container’ at the Cool Logistics conference. “In the near future restaurants and supermarkets will commercialize the use of hydroponics and aeroponics. By merging farm and market supply chain cost and risk could be significantly reduced whilst offering a choice of hand-picked fresh produce,” Cheung will argue.
The focused one-day conference will provide ocean, air and intermodal carriers, food manufacturers, transport and equipment providers, ports and freight forwarders with unique insights into the latest trends in Asian perishable supply chain operations, including specific commodity and logistics market analyses.
2nd Cool Logistics Asia
7 September 2016
AsiaWorld-Expo
Hong Kong
www.coollogisticsasia.com