Everfresh technology extended to
direct packing facility on site
FOLLOWING THE success of a previous a controlled atmosphere shipment of containerised avocados from Durban to Europe (FTW June 11, 1999), Maersk Line has taken matters a step further by opening a direct packing facility from the farm.
The 'Everfresh' technology allows fruit exporters to deliver their product to the market in pristine condition by delaying the ripening process. The system controls decay, compositional changes in the fruit and avoids chill damage from fruit being suddenly transferred from a heated environment (such as on the delivery vehicle or rail truck) into a cold room environment.
Maersk Line has introduced a number of controlled atmosphere 40 ft containers using the Everfresh system, a membrane separator built into the box itself, which doesn't interfere with packing space. Last week's shipment was packed directly from a farm in the Wartburg district in KZN, eliminating the need for third party warehousing.
The new process extends the important cold chain directly from place of production to the final destination, i.e. supermarket or wholesaler in Europe, explained Maersk Line branch manager, Claus Wellov. It also minimises the number of times the fruit is handled and thereby the chances of damage, by ensuring the fruit is under cold treatment from the very earliest possible stage.
By Terry Hutson
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