"Interesting to work with growers that have this equipment"

Testimony of a technical & quality manager working for the marketing desk of a growers' association:

“We are a growers’ association based in Isère region (France), that gather 25 growers/packers over four departments (Ardèche, Drôme, Isère and Loire). It has its own sales company that markets the productions of its 25 members, and among them, several are equipped with Janny MT controlled atmosphere modules. From our point of view, it is pretty interesting to work with growers that have this equipment. For example, with Williams’ pears it works out well for us because it allows us to spread out the packing period, and so we can extend the sales period.

We work with growers that produce from 200 to 700 tons of pears, and large controlled atmosphere rooms with capacities of hundreds of tons do not suit well for the size of our organizations. Being able, during several weeks, to daily open 300 kg storage units is really interesting, considering that the quality of the pears is maintained in the modules, it allows us to satisfy our clients.

With cherries too this equipment looks interesting, not necessarily to extend the sales period, but already to ensure the continuity of our offer during the production season. If ever the weather conditions make harvest more difficult during several consecutive days, having growers that have put cherries in CA modules allows to use a buffer stock, and so to keep on selling on a regular basis. We encourage our growers to invest in this equipment, so that together we are able to answer this kind of issue, and to satisfy our clients’ demands if bad weather happens during picking up time.”