The first International Conference for unbroken cold chain Cold Chain Eurasia was held at the Expoforum Convention and Exhibition Center in St. Petersburg on September 28, 2023. 287 industry experts have participated in the event, including business representatives, industry associations and authorities from Russia, neighboring countries, Europe and Asia.

The central event of the conference was the plenary session “Market of perishable products: trends, challenges and requirements from the economy” addressed the issues related to global food security and the role of the unbroken cold chain in ensuring it.

In his welcoming speech, Mikhail Sinyov, the President of Association of Food Sector Organizations (ASORPS) spoke about the preparation stages of using the unbroken cold chain in Russia, the development of a regulatory framework for its implementation as well as various discussion formats of proposals held between ASORPS and the industry community.

According to the President of Pacific Investment Group (TIGR) Sergey Darkin, TIGR has established supplies of fish products not only across Russia, but even to China. The use of a single operator made it possible to reduce the shipping time of fish products to consumers.

By utilizing the services of a single operator, perishable products reach the customers fresh. This well-established system ensures the quick supply of fish products without any quality loss. As noted by Oleg Kobyakov, the Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, entry to the Chinese market makes it possible to evaluate the scale of the implemented concept.

Meanwhile, Li Zhimin, the Secretary General of the China International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFA), expressed support for the initiative to organize an unbroken cold chain in Russia and spoke about its importance for cross-border transportation of food and other perishable products.

The Chairman of the Fish Union Alexander Panin, GR Director of the Association of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Industrial Goods (Rusprodsoyuz) Andrey Likhachev, Vice President for Trade and Technology Development Azamat Yusupov, CEO of Dalreftrans Andrey Grechkin and other participants of the session “Seamless temperature logistics: world experience and practice in Russia” agreed that now comes the time of opportunity, which requires the joint implementation of modern logistics technologies. While, Natalya Fedorova, the Head of the air transportation department of the NOYTECH Supply Chain Solutions, brought attention to the experience in delivery of pharmaceutical products.

The business program of the conference continued with the business session “Fast cold chain market: success factors and logistical aspects”, which was dedicated to improving the temperature conditions traceability in the unbroken cold chain. Temir Zholdasov, the General Director of the Refagrotrans, Anton Vostrikov, Director of development of the Polyarnaya Zvezda, Aleksandr Yakuben, the Head of Troika fishing company, Yulia Belikova, a founder of the digital platform fishplace.ru and the Operations Director of GRANDO, Vadim Minakov along with other speakers of the business session presented their companies’ nature and principles of operation and put forward currently relevant concepts. In the meantime, Vasily Emelyanenko, the Chef, TV host, YouTube blogger and HoReCa business representative spoke about technologies for freezing food at a temperature of -60 degrees Celsius, that minimizes crystallization in meat, fish and seafood, as well as prevents the leakage of juice from berries and fruits.

The Cold Chain Eurasia conference concluded with a practical session “Industry of cold and IT technologies”, where participants spoke about high-tech solutions in the field of transportation of perishable goods. They discussed practice of using electronic means of navigation and control in the provision of transportation of temperature-sensitive goods, as well as development and implementation of new autonomous refrigerated wagons. In addition, the participants raised the issue of using new types of environmentally friendly refrigerants in cold transport and other practical aspects of organizing low-temperature logistics.

The International Conference for unbroken cold chain Cold Chain Eurasia has brought together participants of all industries along with the representatives of various levels of unbroken cold chain, who are interested in low-temperature logistics. Thanks to the interest of professional community, the organizers have decided to hold the event on an ongoing basis. Follow the updates on the official website.

The International Conference Cold Chain Eurasia was organized by Expo Solutions Group and the Association of Food Sector Organizations (ASORPS), with the support of the International Coordinating Council on Trans-Eurasian Transportation (CCTT) and the Russian Union of Refrigeration Industry Enterprises (Rossoyuzkholodprom).

The International Conference Cold Chain Eurasia’s title partner is the Pacific Investment Group (TIGR), general partner - Dalreftrans, other partners include Fishplace and Refagrotrans.