b'8American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comEven in an unsettled global economy,Global produce industry shines perishables still steady at refreshing new conventionWhile the global economy is slowing, buffeted by the geo-political headwindsBy Tad Thompson, AJOTand inflationary trends, the movement of perishables is still steadyalbeitThe first-ever Global Pro- GPFStooktheOctober adjusting through technology and sourcing to the new post-pandemic market- duce & Floral Show (GPFS)convention timeslot that was place. Greg Tuthill, CCO of SeaCube - a container leasing company, in an AJOTburst onto the scene in OrlandoheldfordecadesbyPMA. interview delves into post-pandemic complexities of the perishables trade. Oct.27-29.ManyfirstsThe show was very similar to wereinvolvedintheevent,that of PMA, but at least one By George Lauriat, AJOTwhichleftnodoubtinany- veteran reporter who thought onesmindthattheinterna- he knew the drill was regu-Unsettledtimes.Theeco- ing and friend-shoring initiativesone area that certainly bearstionalfreshfruit,vegetable,larly sent scrambling for the nomic landscape from Beijing- is underway, del-linkage canwatching. and floral industries are jug- schedule.to-New York City, Helsinki toworkinbothdirections. AsgernautsheadedfortheirTheOrlandoconvention AdelaideandbackagainisTuthillpointsout,Chinan orth -s outht rades and brightest days. arrivedaftertwoyearsof unsettled. No place is immune.usedtomovealotofporktheM arkets GPFSwaspresentedbyPMAcancellationandpost-Ononehand,itisinflationfromtheUS,andnowTheNorth-SouthtradestheInternationalFreshPro- ponementduetotheglobal andrisingfuelcostsandonChinastryingtobemoreare a large contributor to theduceAssociation(IFPA).pandemic.theother,thegeo-politicalself-sustaining,andthatsaglobalperishablesmarket- IFPAistheproductofaIndustrymemberswere uncertaintiesthatcomewithwholechangeandshiftandplace. When asked byAJOTsmartandhighlyefficientthrilled to reconvene and get theRussia-UkraineWarandrotationfromwhatitwas.about these impacts on North- mergerbetweenthePro- onwithunmasked,face-to-the ongoing tension betweenPork is down from an [U.S.]Southmarkets,Tuthillsaid,duceMarketingAssociationface business.China, the United States, andexport standpoint, especiallyItsinteresting,becauseI(PMA) and the United FreshIFPA indicates it is the only theWest. Addinthelinger- toChina,butIdontknowthink some of these marketsProduceAssociation.Moreevent in the world that brings ing impacts of the COVID-19if thats going to change thearecertainlyunderduressthan20,000attendeesfromtogether the entire global supply pandemici.e., will anothertotal movement of perishable(STEADYcontinued onapproximately40countries(SHINEScontinued on hard lockdown in China slamtrade type of volume. But itspage 11) attended the show.page 10)the doors shut at the Port of Shanghai?Andifthatisnt enough, as the COP27 meet-ing in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt remindedtheworld,climate change is here. Thisisthebackdropto alldiscussionsabouttrade. A great deal of that interna-tionaltrade[includingper-ishables]movesinocean containersaround 849 mil-lion TEUs in port throughput in 2021. And like all things related to international trade and ocean shipping, it begins with China.GregTuthill,thechief commercialofficeratSea-Cube,aNewJersey-based container leasing company in a recent far ranging interview withtheAJOT,whenasked about the multilayered impact ofChinaonglobalfinances remarked,TheChinachal-lengesaresofarreaching.so pervasive, because theres the labor issue, the de-linkage issuewere(U.S.)push-ing further and further away fromChina,especiallywith some of the trade restrictions and intellectual property (IP) measures So, its going to be interesting for world trade and the global economy. But thataspectalsotiesintothe debt markets and capital mar-kets.Andthistieswhatever happensinChinabackinto investment decisions for cor-porations as they go forward.Although the U.S. de-link-age from China with near-shor-Greg Tuthill, chief commercial officer at SeaCube'