Avocados Packed For Perfection
When a load of New Zealand avocados arrives in the United
States later this month (December), their growers will be
keenly interested in their condition.
The fruit is the
first exported in a new, trial packaging designed to keep
them in the best state. Technology New Zealand invested in
the packaging project to help the Avocado Industry Council
boost export potential for growers.
At stake in the project are exports that growers hope will reach $100 million by 2005.
"It's about $35 million now," says Avocado Industry Council chief executive Jonathan Cutting. "But with the extensive planting that's been going in recently, we believe it could reach $100 million."
Dr
Cutting says kiwifruit packaging has been used until now.
"It wasn't important before. Avocados kept well enough on
short trips to Australia. But now we're shipping to the
United States, kiwifruit packaging is not
suitable."
Kiwifruit holds its condition and quality well
for long times, unlike avocados.
Massey University's
David Tanner, who worked on the project, says avocados "have
a burst of metabolic activity and pump out heat like
crazy".
So the challenge was to design something that
delayed ripeness until the right moment.
"The advance is not in the materials but in the design," Dr Tanner says. "It's more about air-flow. Basically we redesigned a standard wooden pallet so the air flowed up between cartons to get a more even temperature and a more even quality of fruit.
"It 's not a lot of rocket science, but it's suitable for avocado and it might be suitable for other fruits, too."
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