Hong Kong Air Cargo Industry Services Limited (Hacis), the value-added logistics arm of Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl), has opened a new climate-controlled facility — “Cool Zone” — to cater for the increasing volumes of perishable and temperature-sensitive e-commerce traffic transiting Hong Kong.

Hacis' new “Cool Zone” facility is located within its E-commerce Fulfilment Centre.

"[Cool Zone] provides a total, climate-controlled handling solution for goods such as fresh fruit and chocolates, speeding up the handling process and avoiding the potential cost and delays of transferring goods to downtown facilities for processing, before delivery to the agent’s warehouse or the final customer," the announcement said.

It added that using Hacis Cool Zone, cargo arriving in Hong Kong can easily be processed and delivered to local customers on the same day.

Hacis noted that its Cool Zone facility also offers a handling area with temperatures down to 15°C, so preserving product quality throughout the fulfilment process.

The facility is equipped with storage racks and work tables for pick and pack and labelling. Cool Zone can also integrate with agents' own IT systems to feed direct status updates and stock information.

Hacis is also able to provide storage for chilled, fresh and frozen commodities ranging from +25°C to -25°C.

The Cool Zone is directly linked to Hactl’s SuperTerminal 1 automated Box Storage System (BSS), enabling it to cater for loose cargo, while minimising transit times.

Hacis noted that once the cargo is transferred to the Cool Zone, staff perform all required processes such as pick and pack and labelling, before the cargo is loaded onto temperature-controlled customer vehicles waiting at the facility’s dedicated truck docks.

Alternatively, individual orders can be delivered directly from the Cool Zone to the end customer by courier.

Growth in Hong Kong cool-chain shipments

"The decision to open Hacis Cool Zone was driven by the growth in cool chain shipments arriving at Hong Kong International Airport, and destined for e-commerce customers," said Ringo Chan, executive director of Hacis.

"The Hacis E-commerce Fulfilment Centre needed to support this expansion of temperature-sensitive e-commerce business to various local and overseas destinations, and having reliable and efficient chiller facilities was essential to ensure the preservation of these shipments in prime condition," he added.

Hacis noted that early users of the facility have been importers of fruit, yoghurt, snowy mooncake and chocolates, with most traffic inbound from Asian counties.

Typical shipments comprise 100 pieces weighing between 1 to 5 kilos each.

"We anticipate an increase in the amount of temperature-controlled cargo being handled as there is a growing demand for direct supply of products such as fruits from Japan and Korea," Chan added. "For time- and temperature-sensitive perishables, it is important to keep the cargo handling time as short as possible."

The Hacis executive further explained that the Cool Zone will take "no more than 7 hours from unloading the cargo from the aircraft to finishing the fulfilment process."

"For example, if the shipment is off-loaded in the morning, it can be delivered to a local end-customer the same day. That probably won't be possible if the consignee deals with the fulfilment process using a downtown facility," Chan added.

Hacis Cool Zone offers charging on a per-item-per-service basis, or as a comprehensive tailored package.

"Hacis Cool Zone is unique in providing a total one-stop-shop solution for temperature-sensitive commodities, with all processes carried out in controlled conditions. This supports the expansion of Online to Offline (O2O) e-commerce businesses to various local and overseas destinations," the Hacis executive further said.