Cargolite®, the developer of an innovative packaging concept for fresh cut flowers that has gained a demand in Kenya, is now expanding internationally. Since January 2022, the company's products have become available to Ecuadorian flower producers, and will soon hit the market in Colombia.

The Cargolite concept based on the several key principles and benefits offers its customers efficient and cost effective solutions:

• reduce the weight of the box
• increase the box capacity and the pack rates
• save on packaging materials and air freight
• improve the quality of packaging
• optimize pre-cooling and handling procedure
• ensure compliance with the dimensions of aviation pallets
• reduce the carbon footprint

How it works? The Cargolite box has a patented framework consisted of two plastic or cardboard frames that reinforce the box structure. In this way, under the load from above that the boxes are subjected to during transportation, the shape of the box is maintained by the frames and not by the walls of the box, thus the flowers are not at risk of deformation. The frames of the box are designed for a load resist up to1000 kg. The packaging materials weigh significantly less than materials used previously. Supporting frames prevent the crush of the boxes and there is no need to wrap around each bunch of flowers with heavy cardboard. By eliminating the heavy wrapping paper in the box and replacing it with softer alternatives the box capacity is significantly increased - more stems can be packed in the box, that allows to save on air transportation. The farms, in turn, save on packaging materials. Therefore, both the customer and the farm will cut down their expenses.

Cargolite is now available in Ecuador. In 2021 the Cargolite concept was tested in Ecuador and from January 2022 became available to local farms and international customers in Ecuador. The first customer to adapt Cargolite in Ecuador was the Swiss company Agrotropic, which also uses Cargolite boxes in Kenya. Agrotropic has been able to significantly reduce the cost of air freight, and in addition, the farms themselves have been able to save up to 1.5 cents per stem on packing materials without compromising the flowers’ quality.

Improved logistics at JKIA (Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi International Airport, Kenya). Cargolite has recently opened a warehouse recently built in partnership with Signion at the JKIA Logistics Center. “It's very convenient,” says Martin Kabaka, sales manager for Cargolite in Kenya, “now, after unloading boxes of flowers from forwarders, flower growers can send their trucks to pick up Cargolite ackaging materials right at the airport. This saves a lot of time and everything works more efficiently.”

Markets expansion and range increase. Cargolite faces the future with confidence and hopes to start delivering its products to flower produces in Colombia within a year. This will require some modifications to the Cargolite carton box design to make it smaller, as the company currently manufactures quite large boxes and some markets require smaller ones. According to Amnon Zamir, research and development manager at Cargolite, this was also required when opening the market for South African exporters: “When developing new products, we always try to adapt our products to the needs of the market.” These smaller boxes were presented at the company's booth in IFTF 2022 in the Netherlands.