British Airways has started moving fresh and cut flowers for retailers through its perishable cargo facility at Heathrow in a move it claims will slash the time to market by two days.
Fresh flowers are a major growth area in supermarkets. Trimming, bunching and conditioning them as soon as they come off the plane and transporting them direct to retailers’ RDCs slashes costs and drives up shelf life, said Matthew George, general manager at the centre. “Previously, the flowers might arrive on Sunday afternoon, get to a traditional pack house on Tuesday lunchtime, and then get sent off to the RDC. Now we can have them at Waitrose by Monday morning, so imported flowers can be treated in the same way as other fresh produce.”