MSC Cruises has a business connection to MSC, the worldwide leader in shipping. Shipping goods and people are, of course, two very different things, but the cruise company has found an interesting way to leverage the experience of the shipping brand.
The cruise company, which consists of MSC Cruise and Explora Journey has partnered with its sister company to use smart containers to guarantee that the freshest produce is loaded onto the lines’ cruise ships.
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"Each smart container has an internet connection relaying data such as position, temperature and humidity, which is monitored remotely around the clock from a centralized Customer Service Center in Antwerp, Belgium," MSC Cruises shared in a press release.
The system allows the cruise line to get an early warning when something goes wrong.
"A problem during the transportation of goods by road or sea triggers an alert to the supplier, which allows them to resolve the issue during transit to ensure food products that depend on exact environmental conditions for freshness can be delivered without having to dispatch costly, delayed replacements," the company added. "The smart containers are particularly beneficial for chilled and frozen goods such as meat, seafood, and dairy products."
MSC Cruises has struggled with creating food and menus that appeal to American customers as the company has expanded into the United States.
“The use of smart containers has made a significant positive impact on the supply of food, especially in markets where it is a challenge to source and acquire all of the products locally," shared MSC Procurement Director Paolo Raia. “Another major advantage with smart containers is that in real-time we can constantly monitor the humidity and temperature of the goods being transported and change the parameters in transit, if required, to deliver with absolute confidence the freshest and finest food for our guests.”
MSC serves food on a massive scale
MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys source around 96% of their food locally. The cruise lines also use a series of warehouses from around the world.
The shipping side of MSC began using smart containers from its northern Italian warehouse in Genoa last year. The change led to an improved level of quality assurance compared to the year before when the shipping company used traditional means of transporting food by road and sea.
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Every year MSC Cruises’ fleet of 22 ships is stocked with 5,500 different food and beverage items, including 32 million eggs, 1.5 million gallons of milk, 170,000 oysters, 2 million tomatoes, 2 million pounds of apples, and 1.7 million pounds of lemons.
On average, each of MSC Cruises’ 22 ships carries 50,000 pounds of fresh fruit, 44,000 pounds of fresh vegetables and 12,000 pounds of fish during a 7-night voyage.
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