Fresh-cuts benefit from powerful new Precooler / Recooler

United States

Wednesday 26 July 2017

Inventor Jim Still with Jets at factory

The shelf life of fresh-cut is more important than for fresh for a variety of reasons. Fresh-cut's price per pound is greater, and therefore waste and markdowns are more costly. Its shelf-life is usually less to start with as well, and it runs the risk of foodborne illnesses if left too warm for too long.

The “Fresh-Cut Precooler” is the newest innovation from Global Cooling Inc., based in Philadelphia. According to inventor and company president James D. Still, ”the Fresh-Cut Precooler has 40 horsepower of fan power and delivers 50,000 cfm (cubic feet per minute). “

“This assures that all fresh-cut produce packages can receive at least four or five cfm per pound, and be cooled just as fast as humanly possible,” said Still. According to the FDA, holding fresh-cut produce at appropriate cold storage temperatures reduces the potential for microbial growth. In the USDA guide for defects in fresh-cut produce, the majority of those listed can be related to improper temperature.

“Especially now that consumers are so organic-focused,” Still continued, “recooling of freshcut with forced-air is naturally an organic preservative, and modified atmosphere films work best when the produce is optimally cooled first.”

The rate of respiration of fresh produce is inversely related to product shelf life, which means that a higher respiration rate decreases shelf life. Fresh fruits and vegetables that have been cut or otherwise physically altered will have increased respiration, and a shorter shelf life. Thus far, Jet Heavy-Duty precoolers are in use in Hawaii and Australia, where produce is even more costly than most mainland areas and countries.

“The extra airflow from the Fresh-Cut precooler means retaining the freshest possible freshcut product for the longest possible time,” Still said. “With the heavier-duty Fresh-Cut precooler,” said Still, “final cooling or recooling is achieved almost twice as fast as with our Jet-Ready model, all other things being equal.“

Global's new precoolers are placed in nearby cold storage rooms inside regional processing centers. It's also here that fresh-cut bags or clamshells are aggregated into cartons or RPCs, and then palletized for shipment to distribution centers. Those pallets are then placed in front of the precoolers to create a forced-air precooling tunnel that is much more effective than simply using room cooling.

Global Cooling Inc. also manufactures the Jet-Ready, Jet-Heavy Duty, and Jet-Ripe portable precoolers, as well as the Rapid-Cool 2- and 3-tier high pallet racked precoolers.

For more information:

Jim Still

Global Cooling Inc.

Tel: +1-844-858-4621

Solutions@Pre-Coolers.net