Cold Energy commented its participation in SIIM’s ripening center building

Cold Energy, an international company that operates in the industrial refrigeration sector with a strong specialization in the field of exotic fruit ripening, become a right strategic partner for the completion of SIIM’s ripening center building, the largest ripening plant in France.

New building opened its doors on August 31. The 12.000 square meters platform with a differentiated cold storage volume of 1,000 pallets and 42 ripening chambers with a simultaneous total capacity of 67 trucks (1,608 pallets), it is the first massified ripening site for mangoes, bananas and exotic fruits in France.

Cold Energy was involved into project as the contractor who built the fruit ripening rooms. Their tailor-made project encompassed a focused approach to the product shelf life, energy consumption and environmental impact.

Fructidor had an opportunity to interview Massimiliano Castagna, General sales manager, Cold Energy. He said that the participation in this project was difficult from a technical point of view. “First of all this is the biggest ripening facility in France, second the other competitors are very competent, from different European countries and third SIIM is an extremely demanding client. But I always say that it is easier to work with competent and demanding clients than with careless clients.”

This project is one of the biggest project in Cold Energy's history. It is the result of a great teamwork, from technical department of the company, to their technicians who worked hard to meet the delivery terms, to company's partners, first of all BG DOOR and VDH.

Mr Castagna also commented how COVID-19 pandemic has affected this cooperation: “We are living in a very particular moment in history. The world is big again, distances have become big again, and traveling is difficult. In short, everything has become complicated. Working putting people's health first and respecting contractual commitments at the same time was not easy, but in the end, thanks to the strong collaboration with SIIM and thanks to the people who worked with respect for the rules, we arrived at the end of the works, respecting the times and without health problems for the people.”

Cold Energy has not worked before with SIIM, but the company hope this project will be the first of a long list with them. At the end of the interview, Massimiliano Castagna shared: “When you build a "new house", you have a thousand thoughts and a thousand problems, but when you finally deliver the house keys to owner and you see the smile and satisfaction on his face, all the stress of long months of work disappears as if by a miracle. Finally, you can say: well, this thing is done too, on to the next one (next big project will be in South America).”

Cold Energy has a very long of experience in ripening tropical fruit. Company's portfolio includes projects of various size and complexity: from refrigerated port terminals to logistic platforms and gas tight, controlled atmosphere warehouses.

More information about company’s solutions on their website.

SIIM is the subsidiary combining the production, import and ripening activities of tropical fruit and vegetables of the Omer-Decugis Group, a family business founded in 1850. SIIM is one of the benchmarks on the European market and a leader in Africa. As a producer of exotic fruits in Africa and Latin America, the company has its own distribution network in France and Spain, from where it supplies all of the European markets. It has specific expertise in ripening (bananas, mangoes, papayas, avocados) allowing it to provide a range of fruit with guaranteed maturity from its ripening and packaging platform located in the Rungis International Market in Paris. As a stakeholder involved in every stage of the value chain, from production to distribution, SIIM is recognized for its standards in terms of food quality and safety (IFS Food certification, AEO approval). Deeply committed to a balanced development for all, the company is a member of the BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative), adheres to the United Nations Global Compact and supports the Rainforest Alliance.

For further information, visit SIIM’s website.