PROJECT
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
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house, sorted, weighed, packed into cartons,
palletised and cooled to a core temperature of
1°C before being despatched in a refrigerated
vehicle. Core temperatures throughout is
essential for the berries to withstand the air
travel, without refrigeration, to the European
market and arrive with the best quality and
longest shelf life.
Rapid growth in local and international
demand, has taxed the infrastructure and
cooling facilities of local berry producer,
Haygrove, that has three sites in South Africa.
The Eden site in George, being the largest, a
smaller in Hermanus (Heaven) and the third in
Volksrust (Amajuba).
In 2016, Coolcheck was commissioned to
survey the sites to advice on extensions
needed to handle higher volumes without any
compromise in quality and the least disruption
to production.
The Heaven site in the Hemel en Aarde area
of Hermanus, was the first site to be modified
ahead of the peak in the raspberry season.
Raspberries are harvested from week 44 to week
26, with the highest volume in December, when
ambient temperatures are at highest levels.
The ratio of surface area to mass of
raspberries, is the highest of berries and has
an impact on the cooling rate compared with
the hardier blueberry, for example. Haygrove
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The new chiller is housed in an insulated plant room.
Pump station to control and mix hot water flow to the air handling unit.
Irrigation is from on-site dams.
The new holding area in dispatch.
Raspberries are packed in eight different punnets.
Ronald Giles (left) with pack house supervisor, Damein Odendaal and Kevin Schlemmer.
COLD LINK AFRICA • May | June 2017
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
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