“ICA has decades of experience in designing and constructing packhouses, chill stores, controlled atmosphere (CA) stores and distribution centres,” says director Andrew Wills. “In the last 10 years we have built many of the UK’s leading soft-fruit packhouses.”
The company is based in Tonbridge, Kent and supplies a complete range of instrumentation, including gas analysers around the globe. Wills says: “We also have a joint venture company in Hungary, which supplies Eastern European customers.”
ICA has seen and experienced a great deal of change in the soft-fruit industry in recent times. “There have been big investments in the soft-fruit industry over the last five years or so,” says Wills. “The emphasis on quality is stronger than ever.”
Wills feels that these are to due to increased retailer demands. “The supermarkets are putting pressure on all growers with regard to quality and the need for up-to-date refrigeration and packing facilities,” he says.
Innovation is top of the agenda at ICA, and the company is looking to move to new premises so it can continue to develop its range of products. Wills explains: “We have just bought a plot of land in Paddock Wood, Kent in order to build our new headquarters. This will include 11,000sqft of warehouse, offices, production area and a dedicated CA store for trial purposes. Our instrument division is in its fourth year and is now manufacturing a full range of instruments including analysers, control systems, temperature monitoring and portable ethylene, O2 and CO2 analysers.”
This forms part of its further development, but rapidly changing demands are also shaping the innovation route. Wills says: “We are currently trialing different CA methods to store specific soft fruit. This work is ongoing and crucial to our development as it aims to keep us ahead of the competition. Methods of improving the shelf life of produce will equally be of key importance over the next few years. CA systems and CO2 addition systems are becoming more popular within the industry.”
Wills believes that the most critical part of storing soft fruit is taking out the field heat from the produce as soon as possible. Wills says: “It is vital that this process is carried out without damaging the fruit. With this in mind, work is ongoing with rapid chilling units and will continue over the coming years.”
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