Panalpina continues to expand its Perishables Network in South America through the acquisition of CargoMaster S.A. in Colombia, and its subsidiary, Laseair S.A., in Ecuador. CargoMaster is one of Latin America’s largest companies specialized in the air freight export of perishables, mostly of flowers to the US.
Cartagena, Colombia’s premier port, is becoming increasingly important as a regional transportation hub. Last year, Panalpina set up the first ocean freight hub in Cartagena for Central and South American LCL (Less than Container Load) cargoes. The international freight forwarder also tops the Port of Cartagena’s import and export rankings.
Straight from bagging Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certifications for 11 sites in 2018, Panalpina expects to get over 10 sites certified to GDP in 2019. With currently 37 GDP-certified locations around the globe, the logistics provider is well-positioned to serve the healthcare and pharmaceuticals industry with comprehensive, end-to-end supply chain solutions.
For the first time in its history, LATAM Cargo flew a direct route between the cities of Bogotá, Colombia, and Huntsville, Alabama, United States. The new cargo-only route was opened on December 2, 2018, and will be operated once weekly. The new service marks an important milestone for Panalpina as the company continuously expands its Charter Network and the Perishables Network.
Panalpina brings to the market another industry first with the Less than Container Load (LCL) Ocean Freight hub in Cartagena, Colombia, which connects services in Europe, Asia and Latin America with Central America and the Caribbean. Operated entirely by Panalpina, this new development offers customers more than 30 new LCL services, reduced transit times and greater coverage.
In the latest installment of his Food for Thought series, Colin Wells, global head of industry vertical perishables at Panalpina, speaks of how perishables were flown out of Kenya in the 80s and what has changed since...
Panalpina continues a string of successful new-route developments in the Americas. In little over two years of cooperation with the manufacturer of aluminum containers Crown Colombiana, and after gaining new business with the company between the US and Colombia in 2016, Panalpina has secured an additional contract to move about 3,500 TEUs of ocean freight from Brazil to Colombia.
