View news and innovations from PACK EXPO 2024
View all the latest news and innovations from PACK EXPO International 2024

Fruit Company Found Pharma Cold Shipper Extended Shelf Life by Three to Four Days

Live from the 2019 Cold Chain Global Forum: Using robust pharmaceutical technology for a trial, BerryCo. preserved shelf life and sweetness offering promise in optimizing harvest time.

Chris Day, Director Marketing & Business Development at Sonoco ThermoSafe
Chris Day, Director Marketing & Business Development at Sonoco ThermoSafe

Food waste has a serious detrimental impact on climate change and sustainability. According to Barclay’s Sustainable & Thematic Investing, 1.3 billion tonnes (UK) of food is lost or wasted each year. The commodity groups with the highest proportion of waste include fruit and vegetables as well as roots and tubers, each with 45% of overall volume estimated to go to waste.

At IQPC’s Global Cold Chain Forum in Boston Oct. 15 to 18, Chris Day, Director Marketing & Business Development at Sonoco ThermoSafe, asked, “What if we didn’t have to grow that in the first place?” The spoilage also leads to wasted packaging and transportation costs, which contribute to the overall carbon footprint. Day said that remote monitoring and spoilage reduction are emerging opportunities for the sector.

BerryCo., the world’s largest producer of berries, sought answers to some difficult questions around waste and looked into pharmaceutical cold chain technology. The company wanted to deliver sweeter berries to the east coast, with longer shelf life and less product loss. In fact, the top priority by its new CEO was to increase berry sweetness.

Sweetness is a growth driver in higher end berry markets, and BerryCo. was focused on its raspberries and blackberries as those fruits are not as “hearty” in transit and are more expensive. A competitive startup began making inroads in some of BerryCo.’s east coast markets—the company knew it had to look into more robust packaging, but it needed data to justify higher priced transportation.

Existing path to market

The berries are harvested in California, and trucked to the east coast in a five-day trip typically using thermal blankets and passive containers. Harvest timing, shipping temperature and handling all have an impact on taste. “The bumpy ride traumatizes the fruit,” said Day, explaining that the fruit is related to pharma (logistically) because it’s treated as a living entity impacted by its transport. “And there are ways to quantify taste,” he added.