Wheatsheaf Group, through its wholly owned food safety solutions subsidiary TriStrata Group, has announced the acquisition of 90 per cent of Purfresh, a global provider of specialised controlled atmosphere systems that reduce the risk of high value cargo loss through spoilage in refrigerated ocean shipping containers.
Based in San Francisco, California, Purfresh's technology combines controlled atmosphere and active atmosphere with ozone technology to reduce food waste – delaying ripening and reducing decay – extend shelf life and improve food safety through reducing food-borne pathogens, without the use of harsh chemicals.
According to the group, Purfresh's cloud-based proprietary cargo monitoring software, Intellipur(r), provides customers with real-time visibility into, and remote control of, the conditions of temperature-sensitive cargo shipped in refrigerated marine containers around the world.
Purfresh's controlled atmosphere system is typically used for shipping high value fruit such as blueberries, avocados, and mangoes, but also offers ozone atmosphere technology for non-climacteric fruit cargos such as grapes, pineapples, and citrus products.
Its customers include global ocean carriers, third-party logistic companies, fruit growers and international fruit import and export companies.
'We are delighted to support Purfresh in its next stage of growth,' said Graham Ramsbottom, CEO of Wheatsheaf. 'Purfresh aligns very closely with our strategy of investing in companies that drive efficiencies in the food supply chain while also providing a tangible social benefit. The technology is proven to increase food safety without the need for any harsh chemicals and reduce waste in the global shipping of perishable goods.'
Christian DeBlasio, CEO of Purfresh, said: 'Wheatsheaf were the obvious partner to support Purfresh's growth. Wheatsheaf has committed significant funding to support a rapid roll out of our technology to meet growing customer demand.'
