PML Kenya buys vacuum cooler for cool chain management at JKIA

Perishables logistics specialist PML Kenya has spent $300,000 on a new vacuum cooler located at the Mitchell Cotts air cargo terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi.

The equipment was commissioned on December 13 last year, before going into use in January.

The Weber Next Gen EU8 EP vacuum cooler will improve cool chain management of perishable products at the forwarder Mitchell Cotts’ facility at JKIA, the company said.

According to PML, the cooler benefits from the very latest technology and is “widely acknowledged as the best system on the market, extending the life of products by 2-7 times longer than regular cooling methods”.

The system cools products from 20-30 degrees Celsius to 1-5 degrees Celsius in just 15 to 30 minutes and has a maximum cargo weight capacity of 4,000 kg.

At Mitchell Cotts’ facility at JKIA, the cooler is perfectly located to offer both landside and airside access, PML informs.

Indeed, the convenient location of the facility ensures that customers can deliver products landside, see that they are vacuum cooled and then have them stored in cold rooms.

The already cooled shipments can then be delivered to an airside aircraft directly from a cold store within the shortest possible time frame, reducing exposure times and effectively maintaining the cool chain to maximise shelf life.

The investment in the new vacuum cooler at JKIA builds on PML Kenya’s pre-existing working relationship with Mitchell Cotts, PML acting as a customer for carriers handled by the freight forwarder – however, the vacuum cooler initiative represents the first major project in which PML and the cargo agent have worked as business partners.

PML Kenya believes that the vacuum cooler will facilitate increased business from both existing and new smallholder shippers and growers, who will be keen to benefit from what it regards as a cost-effective and easily accessible vacuum cooling solution.

Looking further ahead, PML Kenya has confirmed that it will continue to invest in technology to “further enhance its cool chain management credentials” and, to that end, is hoping to install a blast chiller at the same facility, offering a cooling system for products that arrive on site hot but which don’t require vacuum cooling.

Silas Kashindi, PML Kenya’s group director, stated: “Investing in future perfect technology has always been part of the PML ethos, as is delivering a superior level of customer service to our customers.

“This latest investment is a perfect example of our ongoing commitment to providing a best-in-class cool chain management solution to our clients and collaborating with like-minded businesses – who share our vision and values – to achieve this.”