The German banana ripening company, Banafood Services' new building has been completed. With this, this company, which is based in Straelen, has increased its ripening capacity. Where they use to be able to ripen 35.000 boxes of bananas, they can now do more than 55.000 to 60.000 boxes.
"We were filled to capacity. This new building is now our third expansion in eleven years. Thanks to this extension, we can optimize our service and grow even more", says Hans Maagendans. “With the new expansion, we can ripen 1.728 boxes per room during marketing campaigns."
Besides the ripening cells, the new building has enough refrigerated storage for 600 pallets. These can be used for bananas, as well as other products.
In the long run, this cooling cell can be used as an extension to the existing ripening rooms. At a later stage, the company's ripening capacity could be increased by 20.000 boxes. These additional boxes will bring the new building's total capacity to 80.000 boxes per week.
The ripening technology chosen by Banafood Services is an eco-friendly system that uses water cooling. For this, a new machine room was fitted out, and the latest software adjustments were made.
According to Hans, the banana market is picking up again. This, after a long, difficult period. "There is usually a slight dip during the time the trade show is taking place in Berlin. However, taking into the account the high spot prices in Ecuador, I do see the marketing recovering even more in the coming weeks."
For more information:
Hans Maagendans
Banafood Services GmbH
7 Carl-Kühne Street
47638 Straelen
hans@banafood.eu
www.banafood.eu