From Farm to Flight: Keeping Food Fresh at 30,000 Feet
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From the sun-ripened sweetness of mangoes to the crisp brininess of just-caught seafood, Asia’s appetite for fresh, high-quality food is driving a high-stakes race against time and temperature.
Insufficient infrastructure and disrupted supply chains contribute to significant food wastage. In China alone, an estimated 20%–30% of fruits and vegetables spoil due to inadequate storage and transportation, squeezing margins and driving up food prices.[1]
The challenge is clear: How can businesses bridge these logistical gaps to meet Asia’s increasing demand for premium produce?
Ensuring that perishable goods reach consumers in optimal condition requires a robust cold chain system. Air cargo plays a critical role in achieving this goal.
“The primary advantage is speed and efficiency,” says Tom Owen, Director Cargo at Hong Kong-based Cathay Cargo. “By air, you can reach places much quicker than by sea, which preserves the quality of the products we carry. We move freight quickly from aircraft, to airside, and through the terminal to its final destination, with far less complexity than other forms of transport.”
Modern air cargo solutions go beyond speed. Advanced temperature controls, specialized handling, and real-time monitoring ensure that perishables remain in prime condition from departure to delivery. For businesses serving international markets, a reliable air cargo cold chain isn’t just an advantage—it’s a necessity.
One of Cathay Cargo’s nine specialized air freight solutions, Cathay Fresh[2] is designed to transport perishables, which account for around 10% of the carrier’s overall tonnage.
Leveraging a vast network of freighters and passenger flights to 200 destinations worldwide, Cathay Fresh connects key consumer markets via Hong Kong, a prime geographical hub.
“With a greater reach than many other markets, Hong Kong is positioned within five hours of almost half the world’s population by air,” says Owen. “We’re also on the doorstop of Southern China, a rapidly growing market for perishable goods.”
Certified by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) CEIV Fresh program,[3] Cathay Fresh offers best-in-class cold chain infrastructure. This includes temperature-controlled facilities, advanced packaging to maintain freshness, specialized handling for a diverse range of cargo, and round-the-clock monitoring to allow proactive intervention in case of delays.
The success of Cathay Fresh contributed to Cathay Cargo’s impressive performance in 2024, with freight tonnage increasing by 11% over the previous year.[4] To maintain this momentum, continuous innovation is essential.
“We invest in bespoke technology like Ultra Track,[5] a Bluetooth-enabled track-and-trace system that allows us to monitor service quality end-to-end in near real time. This assurance is critical for customers when we handle their cargo,” says Owen.
Cathay Cargo was one of the first carriers globally to implement IATA ONE Record,[6] a digital system that provides end-to-end transparency, tracking shipments across the entire air cargo supply chain—from shipper to agent, to airline, warehouse and customs. Crucially, ONE Record uses standardized APIs to enable secure and seamless data sharing among all supply chain stakeholders, which aligns with IATA’s push for greater connectivity and interoperability across the industry.
“Each stakeholder can now access one secure paper-less digital system to draw down the specific piece of information they need—instead of us having to hand over paper from A to B to C, right along the supply chain,” says Owen.
Whether it’s fresh lobsters, cut flowers, or mangosteens, Cathay Fresh ensures timely delivery of perishables in pristine condition, even when demand surges for certain seasonal products.
“To effectively manage these demand peaks, we leverage advanced data analytics along with customer insights to understand market trends,” says Owen. “Working closely with our sales teams we then decide where additional capacity will be necessary. For example, during peak cherry harvest seasons in Southwestern Australia and Western Canada, we boost our flight frequencies and allocate extra resources, ensuring seamless transport and consistent supply.”
While Cathay Fresh underscores Cathay Cargo’s commitment to providing high-quality handling solutions for its customers, the carrier is equally dedicated to operating sustainably. Through its parent company Cathay Pacific, Cathay Cargo is committed to using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for 10% of its total fuel consumption by 2030—part of its broader objective to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.[7]
“In the air, our corporate SAF program allows freight forwarders to purchase sustainable fuel for their flights with us. We also offer a carbon scheme for customers to directly offset emissions from their freight,” Owen says.
Cathay Cargo is also investing in next-generation Airbus A350F freighters, with the first aircraft expected to arrive in 2027. These aircraft will replace the existing fleet over the next decade, reducing fuel emissions per payload ton by around 20%, and increasing Cathay Cargo’s long-haul, wide-body capacity.[8]
On the ground, Cathay Cargo focuses on sustainable practices within its terminals, using recycled plastics for freight coverings, which are reused in a circular process. The carrier's cold chain facilities employ refrigerants without ozone-depleting chemicals, and its fleet of terminal vehicles now runs on sustainable fuel made from vegetable oil.
“Beyond our own operations, our contracts with supply chain partners include minimum requirements for sustainability goals,” says Owen. “We strive to be a regional leader in sustainable air cargo with a sustainable business built for the future.”
Cathay Cargo is committed to staying ahead by continuously listening to its customers, understanding their needs and innovating to deliver market-leading solutions like Cathay Fresh, while expanding its network and fleet capabilities sustainably to meet demand in the world’s fastest-growing region.
