Celo Fruit - sister company of Bexfruit - has invested in a cherry cooler this season. Owner Stefan Bex says that this new cooler has a lot more capacity than the first one. "The last one worked fine, but could only handle less than 500 kilo per hour. The new, larger, machine cools 750 kilos per hour." The hydro cooler is supplied by Stas Belgium in collaboration with Vos Technics.
Capacity suits the company better
He indicates that large volumes were sometimes problematic last season. "It was very warm back then and it was sometimes difficult to really cool the cherries. This shouldn't be a problem with the new one. This capacity suits our company better. Stas is now busy installing the new cooler and it should be completely ready this week. There will be some test runs first, but the real work will start next week. Then we will start picking the variety Samba."
We invested in the machine to wash the cherries and get them to the right temperature. The boxes are placed in the cherry cooler after picking. The temperature of the water is one and a half to two degrees. When the cherries come out of the cooler, they are between three and four degrees. The big advantage is that this means that the products can be stored for longer. They look better, the stalks are greener and that's better for the trade. We have had positive reaction from the trade since we started using the cooler. Both wholesalers and warehouses prefer hydro cooled Belgian cherries. The great thing is that we receive a surcharge for this added value. We noticed this already last year."
For more information:
Bex Fruit
Houtstraat 2a
3890 Gingelom - Belgium
011 48 19 00
011 48 19 01
[email protected]
www.bexfruit.be
Stas NV Belgium
Craenenbroekstraat 32
3380 Glabbeek
Belgium
Tel +32.16.777.306
Fax +32.16.779.781
Website
[email protected]
