Potato supplier Greenvale AP has joined forces with International Controlled Atmosphere (ICA) to form a new joint venture company Restrain Company Ltd. The new concern will be responsible for the sales and marketing of the Restrain system due to be launched at the British Potato Council's storage event on May 20. The system comprises the Restrain generator, sensor and fuel and is used in commercial storage operations to maintain a stable ethylene atmosphere.

Greenvale AP has been using the system successfully for three seasons, as have a number of other major pre-packers.

This development comes about as the result of six years of development work. "Restrain has an emphasis on ease of use," said David Bishop of ICA. "It simply requires a 13amp socket in store and just plugs in."

The system has also been developed with the fruit sector in mind. "We were aware of a number of serious practical issues encountered by the fruit-ripening industry when operators tried to use a neat ethylene supply and so developed a self-contained generating system," said Paul Coleman head of technical and agronomy at Greenvale AP.

Further information is available from www.restrain.eu.com