Southern Airlines airlifts fresh food to distant tables

Heilongjiang province in Northeast China is known for its environmentally friendly food products, but how to deliver them to more places both within the country and overseas as soon as possible can be a problem. Now China Southern Airlines' Heilongjiang company has provided a solution with a new service called "production site direct to freight".

As an important province on the country's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, Heilongjiang is the first province to host this operation.

The new service is an extension of the "Southern Airlines Express" service. It aims to enable barrier-free sales between any production site and customer destination. Dealers, Southern Airlines and the government signed a cooperation agreement to transport local specialties around the country to meet client demand. To guarantee fast delivery, Southern Airlines sets time limits and earmarks an "exclusive compartment" for such cargo. It attaches exclusive stickers to such cargo to ensure it is loaded and unloaded first. It also notifies buyers of the product arrival as soon as possible to ensure the specialties remain fresh.

Southern Airlines also cooperated with express companies to help the province's healthy food "fly" to family tables.

Many people from southern China who travel to Harbin - the capital city of Heilongjiang province, enjoy iced treats known as Central Avenue popsicles. They often express disappointment that they cannot take the popsicles home, said a staff member at the Southern Airlines' Heilongjiang branch company.

He said this made the company think of ways to integrate the airlines' freight advantages and Heilongjiang's food resources.

The Southern Airlines' Heilongjiang branch said the service has many innovations. Before this service, dealers had to locate buyers on their own. Despite this costing a lot of time and money, the results were seldom satisfactory. Now, Southern Airlines has built a "potential clients platform" to provide a free service to dealers.

Southern Airlines has more than 2,000 flights every day to over 190 destinations in nearly 40 countries and regions. It boasts 15 domestic branch companies and six shareholder companies in China. It also has 25 domestic operations and 64 overseas agencies. These are all potential markets, the company said.

Based on the company's strong logistics resources, staff bulletin board systems, online social networks, private relationships and client connections, the company developed a strong information system to quickly match demand and supply, the company said.

By working as an intermediary between demand and supply, Southern Airlines helped producers of rice, wheat, popsicles, sausages and vegetables target their markets and send products to customers quickly.

To stand out in the logistics market, Southern Airlines is now providing "tailor-made services".

As an example, a customer from Guangzhou contacted the Southern Airline's Heilongjiang branch to look for a noted popsicle maker in Heilongjiang to buy from.

The company gathered information from both parties and helped in negotiations. A satisfactory price was reached in transparent circumstances.

To overcome the temperature difference between the north and south and to ensure the popsicles would not melt during transportation, Southern Airlines taught the dealer to make chiller systems and test their effects.

At last, more than 10 cases of popsicles were delivered to the buyer in perfect condition.

The service has been well received by clients in several southern cities including Guangzhou, Guilin, Haikou, Sanya and Zhuhai, just one month after it began.

In the next stage, the Southern Airline's Heilongjiang company will design professional air logistics solutions for different products and broaden its markets to Japan and South Korea.

xuxiao@chinadaily.com.cn