EVENTS
2020 – the year of the cold chain
Consultant Steve Gill talks to ACR News about World Refrigeration Day and the cold chain.
T
his year is unusual by any measure. The pandemic has disrupted the way we work and live. It has brutally taken thousands of lives around the globe, as well as right here on our own doorstep – and the headlines have been a stream of grim statistics.
There have also been many inspiring stories of the front line medical staff treating patients, with in some cases tragic consequences. We are living through history in the making and when people look back at this period from the future, one can expect that it will be a combination of the grim headlines against the fortitude – and sacrifice of the medical teams that will be the reason 2020 is remembered.
Business as usual
At a business level, the disruption has been drastic for many too; not just due to the inconvenience of cancelled meetings and conferences, but because of daily working behaviour and in some cases, resulting in lost jobs.
‘Furloughed’ has entered our vocabulary and currently rolls off the tongue with ease as though it has always been a common business practice. ‘Social distancing’ and virtual meetings are the new norms. It is no longer clear to many what ‘business as usual’ means any more. No one would claim that this year has been business as usual but against all of the uncertainty, some aspects of everyday life have remarkably continued unnoticed, with the same ‘taken for granted’ attitude that is a constant. As panic buying, and queues at food retailers grabbed the headlines, the unseen workings of the food cold chain and the technology keeping the food cold went unnoticed, largely because it did not break down.
14 May 2020
The cold chain did not fail, and as readers of this magazine will know, the cold chain is not just for food – it includes products such as fresh agricultural produce, seafood, frozen food, photographic film, chemicals, pharmaceutical and medical products, human blood and body organs, and so much more.
Our industry has adapted remarkably well to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic both in human and in business terms, with remote and home working and some very creative ways of operating allowing some critical services that our industry serve to continue.
The cold chain – a hidden gem of modern life The cold chain, this remarkable wonder of modern living is an uninterrupted series of refrigerated production, storage and distribution activities, along with associated equipment and logistics, which maintain a desired low- temperature range used to preserve and to extend and to ensure the shelf life of products. Yet it is largely unknown and unnoticed by the general public.
Even the term ‘cold chain’ isn’t widely used outside of our industry. Asking friends and relatives what it means is more likely to result
in some amusing answers that any factual explanation or reveal any understanding. It is time this changed and with this in mind, the main theme for this year’s World Refrigeration Day is the cold chain.
World Refrigeration Day
A few days after the summer solstice, so almost exactly half-way through this turbulent year is 26 June – World Refrigeration Day (WRD) – an day specifically aimed at raising awareness and understanding of the significant role that the refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat- pump (RACHP) industry, with its science and technology, plays in modern life and society. Launched in 2019, the inaugural WRD was a sensational success around the world. It united the global RACHP community in a way that has never been seen before. The numbers are simply staggering with over 800 physical events in at least 153 countries, along with numerous online activities.
One of the modest aims was just to establish the day in the calendar. 26 June had been selected from the many other potentially appropriate dates due to it being the birth date of Lord Kelvin after whom the absolute temperature
www.acr-news.com
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