ExperiCo, the technology development division of Capespan, has patented a new packaging innovation that it claims will change the table grape industry.
The new packaging concept - a dovetailed cut-out in the bottom of the standard 4.5kg and 9kg grape boxes that creates an additional ventilation channel for heat exchange - is said to enhance the cooling rate of the product by up to 35 per cent Capespan said it puts the company “in a position of technological leadership internationally”.
The cooling conduit system in the standard double-walled corrugated boxes was conceived after various other methods to speed up the cooling rate proved to be cost-prohibitive. Dr Martin Taylor, manager of ExperiCo, said the new product was developed in response to obvious market demand in South Africa. “Packhouses and producers were experiencing problems with cooling cycles taking up to three days resulting in bottlenecks during peak season," he said. "We explored different options for more rapid cooling such as perforated bags, deeper boxes and reversed airflow as well as infrastructural changes such as higher refrigeration capacity, but all of these options would have severe implications from a cost point of view.”
ExperiCo experimented with different ventilation channels to optimise cooling cycles. The final product has undergone a series of commercial trials during four different commercial programmes, and has stirred up a great deal of interest across the country’s grape industry.
“This invention is easy to accommodate in the current grape packaging system as the ventilation channel is incorporated in the existing grape box designs by a single, push-out action using a simple jig,” said ExperiCo's manager for packaging Dawie Moelich. “No additional packaging material or changes in material are required and the benefit-cost ratio is significant. The supplementary ventilation channel allows an additional horizontal airflow channel when the boxes are stacked on the pallets, which greatly shortens cooling cycles.”
Taylor added the ExperiCo cooling systems allows management flexibility in terms of exporting as well as shipping versatility. “The same quality maintenance and management principals in the form of stringent monitoring practices required to optimise cooling at coldstore level should still be adhered to by users,” he stressed.
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