How Is Food Transported?

Food travels around the world faster and more efficiently than ever before. In fact, we now live in an era of access to foods from every country and every continent of earth. Who would have thought 80 years ago that you could go to your local supermarket and stock up on oranges from Spain, bananas from Africa, mangoes from Thailand, lamb from New Zealand, and plenty of exotic and tropical foods from lands once thought of as impossible to procure food from.

So in which ways does all of this food make its way from A to B? And what makes it such an efficient and speedy process that delivers fresh produce from China to your local greengrocers or butchers? Read on to discover how food is transported.

By Plane: In the past, it would have been almost unheard of to transport food by air. Not only was this an expensive way to move products, but it was limited in the amount that could be carried. Of course, with the introduction of planes that are more fuel efficient and drastically larger in size, moving food from one country to another can take just hours to go from ground to plate.

By Train: With a network of freight trains across the globe, the transportation of food is a quick and seamless one. Fresh fruits and vegetables can enter the UK from Italy within 12 hours of being harvested. Delicious wines from France can reach London in as little as 60 minutes, and refrigerated carriages keep the food as fresh as when it departed.

By Lorry: This method is by far the most used one and provides fast and direct transportation of food across the country. Lorries carry food across thousands of networks and get food from one end of the country to the other in less than 24 hours. This means local produce such as cheese can be sent from Devon to Scotland and arrive as fresh as it was as the day it was sent.

By Boat: Boat is still the preferred method of transportation of food that is non-perishable and travelling in large quantities over a long distance. Many tinned and preserved foods and drinks arrive in the UK this way and it is also the most economical way to transport food. In fact, food that is transported by boat tends to be an average of 21% cheaper than food transported by flight.

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