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December 08, 2025 | 19:16 PM
DP World has released a comprehensive report examining the hidden value within perishables logistics, demonstrating how strategic procurement and supply chain transformation can dramatically reduce global food waste. The findings reveal that while total global food loss and waste reaches approximately one trillion dollars annually, around 400 billion dollars of this occurs before products even reach store shelves, with a significant portion lost during transit.
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The perishables supply chain faces unprecedented challenges that go far beyond simple logistics inefficiencies. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, pre-retail losses account for a substantial portion of the estimated one trillion dollars in annual global food waste. These losses occur primarily during transportation, with higher rates in warmer regions where temperature fluctuations significantly impact storage and transit conditions.
The problem extends beyond economics into environmental and social spheres. The UN Environment Programme estimates that food waste generates eight to ten percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, with most of these emissions embedded within supply chains rather than at the consumer level. This massive environmental footprint underscores the urgency of addressing logistics inefficiencies in the perishables sector.
DP World's research identifies several critical factors driving food waste in transit. Cold-chain gaps represent a fundamental infrastructure problem, particularly in developing regions where temperature-controlled facilities remain scarce. Limited temperature-controlled storage compounds this issue, creating bottlenecks where perishable goods must wait in suboptimal conditions.
Beyond infrastructure, operational challenges plague the sector. Overproduction creates supply gluts that strain logistics capacity, while weak demand forecasting leads to mismatches between supply and market needs. Inconsistent grading standards across regions further complicate matters, making it difficult to maintain quality throughout the supply chain. These inefficiencies collectively drive major losses that could be prevented through better coordination and investment.
The report draws extensively on survey data from cargo owners in the perishables sector, analyzing both the frequency of logistics disruptions and their financial consequences. The findings paint a sobering picture of vulnerability within current supply chains.
Port congestion emerged as a significant factor affecting processing speed for perishable goods, where time sensitivity makes even minor delays costly. Capability gaps and outdated infrastructure remain major risk factors, with 88 percent of cargo owners identifying technology or systems failures as serious sources of interruption. This statistic highlights the fragility of many logistics networks currently handling perishable goods.
When facing disruptions, cargo owners employ diverse strategies to maintain continuity. Fifty-three percent turn to contract logistics providers, while 51 percent rely on land transportation alternatives. Forty-nine percent leverage supply chain technology solutions, and 47 percent utilize freight forwarding services. These varied responses demonstrate the industry's current reactive rather than preventive approach to disruption management.
Despite 86 percent of respondents expressing confidence in their logistics partners' ability to handle crises, 94 percent identified limited visibility across supply chains as a major obstacle. This disconnect suggests that while partners demonstrate competence in crisis response, the lack of predictive insights and real-time data prevents businesses from anticipating and mitigating disruptions before they occur.
Alfred Whitman, Global Vice President for Perishables and Agriculture at DP World, emphasizes the critical importance of getting logistics right, particularly in the Global South where cold chain infrastructure requires sustained investment. Whitman notes that understanding the true price of disruption is essential for building more reliable supply chains.
The report's title conveys its central message: without proper logistics, addressing food waste remains impossible. To improve logistics operations quickly and effectively, the industry must understand what cargo owners prioritize and, equally important, what they fail to prioritize. This knowledge gap currently prevents optimal resource allocation and strategic investment.
The scale of spending on resilience infrastructure matters, but effectiveness depends on targeted development of reliable capabilities across the entire chain. Critically, these capabilities must work together as an integrated system rather than as isolated solutions. This holistic approach requires coordination between port operators, cold storage providers, transportation companies, and technology platforms.
DP World outlines five specific actions to strengthen supply chain resilience and address food waste systematically:
Track Avoided Waste and Carbon Intensity: Implementing comprehensive tracking across the cold chain transforms reliability into a measurable sustainability metric. This visibility reveals precisely where issues occur, enabling targeted interventions. By quantifying avoided waste and carbon reductions, companies can demonstrate the business case for continued investment in resilience measures.
Invest in Predictive Analytics and AI: Moving from reactive to proactive management requires sophisticated data analysis. Predictive analytics and artificial intelligence enable early identification of potential issues, preventing spoilage before it occurs rather than paying the cost of losses after the fact. These technologies can forecast temperature fluctuations, predict equipment failures, and optimize routing to minimize time in transit.
Expand Regional Cold-Chain Networks: Building out temperature-controlled infrastructure at the regional level improves both freshness and control over product quality. Regional networks reduce the distance perishables must travel before reaching refrigeration, decreasing exposure to ambient temperatures. This approach also provides redundancy, as multiple facilities can cover for one another during disruptions.
Balance Cost and Protection: Strategic procurement must weigh the expense of protective measures against the potential for large-scale losses. While advanced cold-chain solutions require significant investment, the cost of food waste often exceeds these expenditures. Companies must calculate the total cost of ownership, including waste, emissions penalties, and reputational damage from quality failures.
Measure Logistics Performance by Product Quality: Traditional logistics metrics focus on speed and cost, but for perishables, product quality upon delivery represents the ultimate measure of success. Freshness builds trust with partners and reinforces supply chain resilience by creating feedback loops that drive continuous improvement. When quality metrics guide decision-making, investments naturally flow toward capabilities that preserve product integrity.
The report emphasizes that capable logistics networks combined with targeted investment in cold-chain infrastructure can dramatically reduce perishable waste. This reduction cascades through multiple benefits: decreased emissions from reduced waste, less strain on supply chains from fewer emergency shipments, and improved food security through higher rates of product reaching consumers.
Better end-to-end data sharing emerges as a critical enabler of these improvements. When all stakeholders in the supply chain have access to real-time information about product location, condition, and environmental exposure, they can make informed decisions quickly. This transparency also facilitates stronger market access for perishable goods by building confidence among buyers about product quality and remaining shelf life.
DP World's operations in Peru demonstrate these principles in action through connected cold chain networks that move perishable exports seamlessly. The company recently delivered 400 tons of fresh blueberries to the United States in under 12 hours, showcasing what's possible with integrated logistics solutions. This achievement required coordination across multiple transportation modes, precise temperature control, and real-time monitoring throughout the journey.
This Peru example illustrates the partnership mindset that DP World advocates, where customers become collaborators in shaping future supply chain solutions. By integrating customer feedback into logistics innovation, the company designs solutions that prove both efficient and resilient under real-world conditions.
The perishables logistics report aligns with DP World's broader strategic shift from efficiency-focused to resilience-oriented supply chain design. As supply chain disruptions have jumped nearly 40 percent in 2024, with companies now facing month-long interruptions every 3.7 years on average, the limitations of pure optimization have become apparent.
This transition reflects a fundamental rethinking of supply chain strategy. Where previous decades prioritized minimizing costs and transit times, the current era demands systems that can bend without breaking under stress. For perishable goods, where spoilage represents total loss rather than merely delayed delivery, this resilience imperative carries even greater urgency.
The transformation of perishables logistics requires both global coordination and local adaptation. Infrastructure investments must account for regional climate conditions, existing transportation networks, and local market characteristics. What works in temperate climates may prove inadequate in tropical regions, while solutions for developed markets may not translate directly to emerging economies.
DP World's global footprint, spanning operations across six continents with over 100,000 employees, positions the company to implement region-specific solutions while maintaining consistent quality standards. This scale enables knowledge transfer between markets, allowing successful innovations to spread while adaptations address local conditions.
For procurement professionals, the report's findings carry direct implications. Supplier selection must increasingly weight reliability and quality preservation alongside traditional cost considerations. The cheapest logistics provider may generate higher total costs when spoilage and waste are factored into the equation.
Risk management becomes more sophisticated, requiring procurement teams to assess not just direct supplier capabilities but entire supply chain ecosystems. Questions about cold-chain infrastructure, backup systems, real-time monitoring capabilities, and data sharing protocols should feature prominently in vendor evaluations.
Long-term partnerships gain importance over transactional relationships, as building truly resilient perishables supply chains requires deep collaboration. Procurement strategies should incentivize suppliers to invest in resilience measures through longer contract terms, volume commitments, or performance-based bonuses tied to quality metrics rather than purely delivery speed.
DP World's research makes clear that addressing food waste in perishables supply chains demands systemic change rather than incremental improvements. The infrastructure gap, particularly in developing regions, requires sustained investment over many years. Technology adoption must accelerate, bringing predictive analytics and AI into mainstream logistics operations rather than remaining confined to pilot projects.
Cultural shifts within organizations prove equally important. Supply chain managers must embrace quality and reliability metrics alongside traditional efficiency measures. Procurement teams need new evaluation frameworks that capture total value rather than initial costs. And leadership must commit to longer-term thinking, recognizing that building resilience generates returns over years rather than quarters.
The stakes extend beyond business performance to global food security and environmental sustainability. With the perishable goods transportation market projected to grow by 6.43 billion dollars from 2021 to 2026, the potential impact of improved logistics multiplies. Every percentage point reduction in waste translates to billions in preserved value and millions of tons of reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
DP World's report on perishables logistics reveals both the magnitude of current waste and the path toward solutions. By understanding cargo owner priorities, investing strategically in cold-chain infrastructure, leveraging predictive technologies, and measuring performance through quality outcomes, the industry can transform its resilience fundamentally.
The transition from reactive to proactive supply chain management requires commitment across the entire logistics ecosystem. Procurement decisions today shape the capabilities available tomorrow, making strategic sourcing a critical lever for change. As climate pressures intensify and consumer expectations for sustainable practices grow, companies that invest in resilient perishables logistics will gain competitive advantages while contributing to broader societal goals.
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