Young entrepreneurs develop "ChillSafe" technology to delay the ripening of fruits and vegetables
Attracting young talents has been a great challenge for the fresh fruit and vegetables industry around the world. But in recent years, the agri-food industry in general, is attracting more interest from graduates as part of the development of their careers.
But it is not only about finding paid employment, but about becoming business leaders in the sector.
During the Amsterdam Produce Show and Conference earlier this month Fruit Portal caught up with Thomas Williams, who graduated from London's Brunel University in June this year, and is already making his mark on the industry.
While they were in college, Williams and his partner Ryan Nichols secured the rights to sell the ChillSafe technology developed by Australia in the United Kingdom, through the company Coolsan Europe.
In simple terms, ChillSafe is a sachet that releases hydrogen peroxide in a very small concentration, killing bacteria and mold while also destroying ethylene, which is the natural gas released by fruits and vegetables that makes them mature.
The sachets can be applied to fresh rooms, storage areas or refrigerated containers.
"It works at room temperature too, as long as there is a kind of sealed area where the sachet can enter, the Chill Safe steam will work"Said the entrepreneur of 21 years.
"In supermarkets, people enter and leave the frozen food section all the time - which is not a problem, as long as they use a good code of practice and do not want to lose energy, they will close the doors when they are ready and the sachet can fill the space".
"It can be applied at all points in the supply chain as long as there is some type of sealed area".
He said that the product had had good results in Australia, and that it had also been introduced in South Africa, where many trials have been conducted through supermarkets.
"Many restaurants already use ChillSafe as part of their HACCP plans"He added.
After seeing the results in Australia and securing the rights for the United Kingdom, Williams and Nichols tried to get a better idea for the fruit and vegetable sector.
"When we finished (the University) we went to the London Produce Show as students, we got some contacts, we started to build our understanding of the fresh fruit and vegetables industry"Said Williams.
"My university degree is an aerospace engineer, just like Ryan, so we have learned a lot in recent months".
"Now we have expanded to the European market, "said Williams, adding that the plan was" to expand to all European countries.".
He said that the current product could cover spaces of 25 cubic meters, but in larger spaces the solution at the moment was simply to add more envelopes to cover the appropriate area - for example, in the case of a storage space of 50 cubic meters a company would only need two bags.
"We are looking to introduce a larger industrial-sized sachet around the month of July - in Australia they will be launching it"He said.
"The bag that will be launched in July, will be for about 150 cubic meters".
Williams said that Coolsan Europe customers in the United Kingdom had so far reported reductions in food waste from the use of sachets, with cuts in losses of up to 31%.
Product safety
The most common questions received by Williams and Nichols are about product safety. After all, it is logical that the words 'hydrogen peroxide' do not receive the best response from the public.
"The concentration of hydrogen peroxide is roughly 1% going to the air. You can buy an 4-6% concentration hydrogen peroxide in the supermarket. Does not leave any residue in the food"Said Williams.
"It's not like ozone - it uses a different ROS (reactive oxygen species) so in terms of some concern about health and safety, it has been approved by HACCP in Australia - there was a three year test for that".
Source: Fruit Portal
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