Turkish company Alara Agri Business, part of the Univeg group of companies, has announced it has begun using the Xsense Perishables Quality Monitoring System developed by Israel-based packaging and post-harvest technology specialist StePac.
The Xsense system monitors temperature and relative humidity in real time from inside fresh produce cartons.
Using the technology, Alara says it has gained new insights into the condition of its cherries and figs as they travel from the company's packing facility in Turkey to receivers throughout Europe.
Alara recently participated in one of StePac’s first commercial pilot programs during the 2008 cherry season.
The Xsense system’s real time alerts, sent to Alara supervisors via SMS and email, reportedly enabled the supplier to intervene during transport and reduce risk of freezing damage in over 60 cherry shipments and over 50 fig shipments during the 2009 season.
Alara supervisors were apparently able to take corrective action, such as by contacting drivers and requesting they adjust the set point of the refrigeration unit or by quickly identifying temperature compromised pallets when they arrived at distribution centers.
The availability of real-time GPS location updates has also enabled Alara and its consignees to know where shipments are at any moment in time, the company noted, resulting in improved scheduling of deliveries.
Additional benefits identified by the company include: optimised pallet loading, with warmer pallets placed in cooler locations on trucks; reduced waste and produce weight loss; and enhanced shelf-life on arrival.
'While we maintain the strictest cold-chain protocols at our packing facilities, we had little knowledge about the condition of our products once they left our plant,' commented Alara chief executive officer Kerim Taner.
'Xsense real-time temperature and relative humidity monitoring, along with its GPS tracking, has enabled us to stay in control, helping us to meet our promise to consistently deliver top quality produce throughout the season,' he continued. 'We see the use of Xsense as an important brand building tool by enabling us to improve customer service, visibility and satisfaction.'
Xsense was developed by StePac as part of its strategy to provide systems-based solutions to the post-harvest industry.
'When we realised that there was no successful technology available that could monitor and report in real time the temperature and relative humidity of the environment inside produce cartons and that all investments in post-harvest procedures and technologies are at risk due to lack of this critical information, we set out to develop it ourselves,' remarked Asaf Shachnai, StePac's vice-president of commercial management and technology.
'We found Alara and its innovative management team to be perfect partners in piloting the Xsense programme,' he added.
