The growing market of shipping perishables by air

DATE: 03/12/20

Great volumes of perishables arrive daily from Latin America to Amerijet International Airlines’ hub at Miami International Airport (MIA).  According to Miami International Airport trade statistics, the airport handles 79% of all air imports and 77% of all exports between the US and Latin America. Other key perishable producing regions served by Amerijet are Mexico and the Caribbean.  Amerijet provides scheduled flights transporting temperature-controlled shipments of fruits, vegetables and seafood on its dedicated freighters.

“Our world-class temperature-controlled handling processes and facilities offer shippers, growers, producers and distributors the best possible cold chain management for their products,” said Augusto Iturralde, Regional Director at Amerijet.

World-class Amerijet perishable handling

Amerijet’s Miami facility includes a 35,000 square-foot (3,250 sq. meter) perishable handling center providing refrigerated, frozen and chilled storage. Climate-controlled receiving areas and computer-monitored storage chambers ensure the cold chain integrity of perishable shipments during the handling and transportation process.

“We ensure the cycle of the cold chain is completely closed. Our planes park behind our facility and temperature-controlled freight has direct access to climate-controlled chambers. Our tarmac transfer times from the airplane to the refrigerated facilities is minutes,” Iturralde said. Amerijet is very transparent with its customers, communicating shipment status updates via email and phone,” Iturralde further added.

Mexico, Central America perishable markets

The great majority of Amerijet’s perishable export freight is handled by local freight forwarders in Mexico and Central America. Amerijet has maintained long lasting and strong relationships with freight forwarders, as well with the local growers and distributors. Free trade agreements between the U.S., Mexico and, Central America have bolstered fruit and vegetable trade for many years. According to US. Trade statistics from the USDA (US department of Agriculture) U.S. imports of fresh fruits and vegetables from Central America more than tripled from 2000 to 2018, rising from $920 million in 2000 to $2.94 billion in 2018 while imports from South America more than tripled from $1.27 billion in 2000 to $4.37 billion in 2018. Nine Latin American countries represent 92.3% of total U.S. fresh fruits imports, led by Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, and Costa Rica, according to a report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

With frequent, reliable direct flights between Miami and Mexico and Central America Amerijet serves a number of key perishable trade lanes for northbound imports via Miami and for transfers to Europe and Asia.

For more information about Amerijet perishables shipping, please email sales@app-wpprod-prod-eastus2-001.azurewebsites.net or call 305-506-2969.

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