TransFresh's Rich MacLeod and Apio's Steve Bitler Talk Prolonging Storage Life for Blueberries with New Technology
SALINAS, CA - The blueberry business has begun to expand rapidly across the globe. The need for changes to match that growth has prompted TransFresh to develop a technology that would assist Apio, Inc. in prolonging the storage life of blueberries.
“We are able to store blueberries, fresh blueberries, for on the order of 28 days at 34 degrees fahrenheit,” Steve Bitler, Vice President of Corporate Technology for Apio, Inc., tells ANUK.
Incorporating three different technologies, as well as marrying this concept to the Apio Breatheway Membrane technology, the result is a multi-layered membrane. According to Steve, this includes:
- A porous support
- A polymeric film
- The ability to control the oxygen and CO2 emission rates
- The ability to control the level of selectivity of oxygen and CO2
This technology gives shippers an ability to extend and expand their shipping window so as not to have to concentrate all product at the peak, according to Rich Macleod, TransFresh Company’s Director for North American Pallets.
“The shippers and packers of blueberries need a way to expand or extend their market window,” Rich explains, saying that TransFresh took its system and rebuilt from the bottom up to meet this need.
To find out more about this technology and how it is adding to the shelf-life and freshness of blueberries, as well as how the pallet bags communicate to the customers that the proper levels of carbon dioxide have been maintained at a glance, watch the short video above.
