Driving food safety and efficiency through real-time tracking

In Kenya’s transport and logistics sector, keeping perishable goods like vegetables, flowers and fresh fruits safe on their journey from farm to market is a major challenge. A recent partnership between Kenya Airfreight Handling Limited (KAHL) and Lift Cargo is addressing exactly that: the two companies are working to improve cool‑chain management, reduce spoilage and guarantee freshness.

Traceability, built on GS1 standards, plays a critical role in making this vision real. When perishable consignments are packed, each crate or pallet can be assigned a Serial Shipping Container Code, which is a unique identifier for that container. A two‑dimensional barcode can then include not just this code, but also details like the time of packing, farm origin and temperature data.

   

The Global Trade Item Number gives every unit whether it is a box of flowers or a tray of mangoes a unique identity, so that each item’s journey through the cool chain is recorded. Meanwhile, the Global Location Number tags every site along the route: the farm, the cold storage facilities, the air‑cargo terminal and the destination dispatch center. With these systems in place, logistics teams gain visibility into where spoilage might occur and operators can pinpoint and quarantine affected batches quickly if there is a quality issue. For Kenya’s export and domestic horticulture market, where freshness is everything, GS1‑based traceability in the cool chain reduces waste, enhances quality and helps maintain trust with buyers.