Mapping cold-chain gaps from landing centre to market

What is shaping fishing

Fishing connects coastal communities, processors and exporters in a supply chain where freshness, ice and timing decide value. Livelihoods depend on seasons, regulation and access to cold chain.

• Seasonal fishing bans and weather drive income cycles
• Cold chain and processing determine export quality
• Welfare schemes and cooperatives support fisher families

A state fisheries department, working in Kerala. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

A state fisheries department

Sector

Fishing

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Government research, Qualitative research, Reporting & insights

Post-harvest losses were believed to be high, but the department did not know where in the chain they occurred, or which investments, ice plants, insulated transport or storage, would make the biggest difference.

• Deliver on the brief: mapping cold-chain gaps from landing centre to market.
• Understand the views, needs and behaviour of landing centres.
• Uncover the motivations and barriers people do not state in a survey.
• Give the client evidence it can act on within 7 weeks.

The work focused on 45 landing centres.

• landing centres45

Audiences we typically reach in fishing

Fishers and boat ownersFish traders and auctioneersProcessors and exportersSeafood consumersCooperatives and scheme officials

Coverage: Kerala. Market: India.

• India

A qualitative design, built to uncover motivations, decision processes and the language people actually use.

1. 1Brief
2. 2Landing centre audits
3. 3Trader and transporter interviews
4. 4Insight

Teams visited landing centres at dawn to observe handling, icing and loading, and interviewed fishers, auctioneers, traders and transport operators. A structured audit checklist recorded facilities and practices consistently across sites.

Government researchQualitative researchReporting & insights

landing centres

45

• Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
• Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.

interviews

220

• Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
• Auditors and mystery shoppers followed a standard checklist, recording evidence at each visit.

• Recordings and transcripts for every session
• Re-screening of qualitative recruits
• Photo or document evidence for audit points
• Second-reviewer checks on scores
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
• Journey and decision mapping

• Losses were concentrated in the first hours after landing, where ice was scarce and handling rough.

Observing the process at the right time of day revealed problems interviews alone would have missed.

• Build on the core insight: observing the process at the right time of day revealed problems interviews alone would have missed.
• Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: losses were concentrated in the first hours after landing, where ice was scarce and handling rough.
• Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.

• The department prioritised ice availability and handling training at high-volume centres before investing in larger storage facilities.

What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Interview summaries and key verbatims
• Evaluation findings with programme recommendations

• Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
• A natural follow-on question: where is value lost between catch and market?