Tropical grower embraces shelf-life extending technology
Hazel Technologies Inc., a USDA-funded company providing new technologies to extend the shelf life of produce and fight food waste, and AMR Agro, a tropical grower in the Dominican Republic, report the successful implementation of Hazel Tech® solutions across their global product offering.
AMR Agro says Hazel Tech’s solutions for various tropical commodities allowed it to to protect its products and enhance its export programs.
The Dominican Republic has positioned itself to increase its share of the global avocado market through marketing campaigns, production optimizations and strategic exportation plans like the Executing Quality Export Program funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). These efforts are paying off and an increased global demand means farms are looking for new ways to extend their supply. AMR benefited from a 40 percent improvement in quality during the 2020 season noted by reducti
Hazel Tech hosts first Stone Fruit Quality Summit
Hazel Technologies, Inc. is launching the first virtual Stone Fruit Quality Summit. A one-hour event held on Friday February 26th, the summit will feature keynote speakers from across the stone fruit industry ahead of the 2021 Northern American stone fruit season.
Speakers will include Angelos Deltsidis, assistant professor of post-harvest physiology at the University of Georgia; Bill Purewal, PureFresh sales owner and sales manager, grower and marketer; and Mario Cervantes, senior business development manager at Hazel Technologies, Inc.
Right: Bill Purewal
Keynote speeches will highlight the latest research on fresh stone fruit post-harvest quality, including maintaining color and firmness in different varieties of stone fruit, preventing shrivel and ensuring quality during long-distance transit. In addition, speakers will discuss technology for stone fruit that has been tested by UC Davis on peaches, plums, nectarines and aprico
December 25, 2020
Hazel Technologies Inc., a USDA-funded technology company delivering new solutions for the fresh produce industry to extend shelf-life, increase sales, and fight food waste, announced a new partnership with Reedley, CA-based Kliewer Farms, a leading grower of California kiwifruit, stone fruit, and table grapes.
The partnership focuses on the use of Hazel for kiwi to ensure post-harvest quality. The technology, whose development has been funded in-part by the USDA, is a small biodegradable sachet, placed in the box during packing, which reduces the sensitivity of kiwifruit to ethylene, resulting in longer shelf life and less food waste. Hazel Tech manufactures sachets for both organic and conventional kiwi, providing growers, shippers, and retailers with compliance flexibility.
Hazel Tech receives USDA funding for potato quality technology
Hazel Technologies Inc. has received new USDA-funding for a packaging technology which protects the quality of potatoes. The technology may also have applications for some types of onions.
The technology, dubbed Hazel Root™, is a packaging insert placed in a bulk box or bin of potatoes or onions during storage following harvest. This prevents the sprouting process from starting prematurely.
Hazel Root™ is a packaging insert that helps prevent the sprouting process from starting prematurely.
According to the USDA, sprouting exceeding 10 percent of the total surface area of the potato qualifies a potato as “damaged” and not only reduces the commercial value of a potato but also contributes to food waste, as the potato is less likely to be consumed. Furthermore, consumers frequently confuse sprouting with decay and throw away produce that has grown sprouts.
July and August saw a number of developments happen worldwide in produce.
In Italy, due to spring conditions, it was predicted that many areas in the country would produce less kiwifruits than in a normal year including the Ravenna province, which was estimated to only reach 50 percent. At the same time in China, the past six months had seen illegal plantings of New Zealand s high valued gold kiwifruit variety, a variety whose rights growers pay hundreds of thousands to dollars per hectare to grow the fruit. Meanwhile 2020 looked to be a peak year for kiwi berry plantations in China and the overall production volume significantly expanded.