It’s a tough fight, but we’re getting there

In South Africa, a ratio of 60:40 between ocean and air cargo reigns for blueberries, although Antoinette van Heerden, logistics manager at the Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum and moderator of the international blueberry summit logistics panel, remarked: it fluctuates quite a bit between seasons. From Peru, that ratio is 90:10, or even 95:5.

At the start of the South African season, most blueberry exporters aim for a preponderance of sea freight, but it doesn’t always work out that way (because of the 2022 dockworker strike, for example). “So at the time an exporter is at the point of doing more air freight, they’re upset already,” Schalk Bruwer, CEO of Morgan Cargo, a Kuehne + Nagel-owned air freight forwarder, told the audience. “Air freight is very expensive in comparison to the ocean.”

The IBO 2025 summit photo report

Kenyan perishable exports are heavily based on cargo planes, or freighters, because there aren’t enough passenger flights, while the situation in South Africa is the opposite: exports piggyback on passenger flights. “At all times,” Bruwer remarked, “airlines would like to have cargo from us, but we’re catching the lift on the flight.”

Blueberries have an edge over some other fruit categories: they are heavy per unit, making them attractive to airlines.

Fuel efficiency reduces cargo-carrying capacity
During the era of 747 passenger carriers, 25 tonnes of cargo could go into the hold on a plane leaving from the high altitude of Johannesburg, with 50 tons uplift per night on two flights. 747s were replaced by the A380, which has a belly capacity of 12 to 18 tonnes for cargo.

“New-generation aircraft burn less fuel, but the takeoff weight also reduces. Weight is not cut from passengers, it’s cut from cargo. So even though there are a lot of extra flights to Cape Town, it doesn’t mean you can just multiply the tonnage you can export.”

Bruwer said that passenger airlines have started limiting them on weight, and cargo freighters are not an easy substitute. “We don’t have enough exports to justify a year-round schedule of cargo freighters. Starting now until Christmas, we bring in cargo planes, but you have to plan cargo flights at least six months in advance. If you’re one week out, it’s expensive – you pay for empty capacity.”

If the market pushed the cargo plane option, it could change in the future, he remarked.

The IBO 2025 summit photo report

Cargo plane for late Cape blueberries?
The last part of the South African berry season comes from the Western Cape and has high volumes via air freight, but because of handling capacity constraints at Cape Town airport, berries are at times trucked up to OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg. Might a cargo freighter work at this time of year, Bruwer was asked by the logistics manager of a major blueberry grower-exporter.

He responded that a cargo plane needs 100 tonnes on a day fixed six months in advance, to a specific destination, to make it viable, “and this is not as doable as it sounds. It also depends on what that aircraft is bringing into South Africa. The economy is not as strong as it used to be, and airlines have a lot of empty southbound capacity.”

Fortunately, many tourists come to the Western Cape. “We’re lucky in the sense that there are more airlines coming into South Africa. There are more rotations per week in Cape Town than even before the pandemic.”

Dynamic pricing is a catch-22
Freight forwarders used to sign guaranteed capacity agreements, also called block space agreements, in which they undertake to pay for cargo space whether using it or not. In return, they got cargo space at reduced rates, which are more sustainable for perishable products.

“Guaranteed capacity agreements then fell away for a while, and when it was brought back, they said because it’s guaranteed, it would now cost you more because you don’t have to play the market and hope you get the capacity.”

Bruwer continued: “Last year, we were warned of dynamic pricing. It’s also called variable pricing or spot rating. We had our hands full trying to explain to the airlines that this is not a workable solution when you’re working with a supermarket that wants a fixed price for the whole season. I think we’re slowly winning the fight halfway, but that is how the general system works right now.”

The rate is continuously recalculated according to the level of demand for that space, but it is a catch-22 situation for freight forwarders. “In the blueberry season, you are the reason that the flight is full, so you get penalised for supporting the airline. We’ve had some very heated debates with the airlines around this.”

He said it seemed that sensibility was prevailing at some airlines. “A portion of the flight should be sold on certain terms. It’s a tough fight, but I think we’re getting there. Anyone thinking the price of airfreight is driven by operational costs hasn’t been in the industry long. It’s only driven by supply and demand.”

09-30-2025

Source: Freshplaza.com