Traditional chemical treatments leave behind residues. Acceptable levels are defined and monitored by the Food Standards Agency. This leaves the packer and grower vulnerable if the supply chain is not 100% efficient. Furthermore, there is a growing trend from consumers and retailers for pesticide and chemical free produce.
There is an added advantage in that stores can be used for either ware or seed potatoes as ethylene treatment doesn’t leave a residue that can affect seed potato sprouting. This allows versatility in use of potato stores.
All ethylene gas is produced to a regulated standard and is guaranteed to be 99.9% pure. This means that your potatoes receive only ethylene and there is no need to worry about contamination or the introduction of water into your store during the treatment process.
Growers, packers and distributors who need to store potatoes for any length of time. biofresh systems are the ideal solution for any company that wishes to use alternatives to more traditional chemicals or who is facing increasing pressure to do so as part of a supply chain policy of ‘zero residues’.
biofresh can supply systems to suit a small single store up to multi storage units of any volume. There are ‘off the shelf’ systems to fit most applications, but we are equally happy to provide bespoke solutions to meet specific customer requirements.
At present it is not possible to use ethylene to treat processing potatoes as it has been known to have an effect on fry colour. However, biofresh are currently working alongside the University of Maine to develop a satisfactory protocol for use on processing crops. Watch this space!
biofresh have carried out extensive trials with the use of ethylene on seed potatoes. The results have shown that by using a biofresh ethylene management unit you can increase the tuber numbers of some varieties of salad potatoes by as much as 30%. This greatly improves the crop yield and is achievable at no extra cost to the standard biofresh unit.
biofresh systems use the most advanced sensors to control the release of ethylene, but are in fact incredibly easy to install, run and maintain. To find out just how easy see here.
Costs are comparable to current traditional chemical treatment; the larger the store, the more cost effective. Ask the biofresh technical team for a site visit, survey and no obligation cost.
biofresh has numerous systems spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world, including installations in Asia and North America.
biofresh customers include relatively small growers such as Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes to the largest distributors and packers such as Solanum, mbmg and Branston for whom we have just completed a multi chamber superstore system.