ShareAn innovative ripening room inside a container.
Dutch manufacturer Interko has launched an innovative fruit ripening room inside of a standard refrigerated container.
After five years of research and development, Interko, a Dutch manufacturer of fruit ripening rooms has launched an innovative “Containerised Ripening Room”. The system consists of building a ripening room inside of a standard insulated refrigerated container, either from scratch or by retrofitting the container. The container is therefore turned into a ripening room suitable for various fruits such as bananas, mangoes, avocados, apricots, etc.
The “Containerised Ripening Room” is 2.6 metres wide and approximately 12 metres long and can hold 20 full-sized pallets each stacked with up to 9 boxes of fruit. The container includes a fan designed specifically for the maturation process, as well as a small control room. The system has been developed with energy efficiency in mind.
According to the manufacturer, a smaller space enables more direct control of the ripening process due to the reduced air volume in the room, in comparison with a standard ripening room. Thanks to the control system and sensors, the operator does not have to walk down the middle aisle to monitor fruit development.
The “Containerised Ripening Room” is designed to give operators the flexibility of moving their ripening room to another location by ship or train. This could help operators react quickly to a rise in market demand. The system can also benefit those who lack the space or the appropriate infrastructure for a standard-sized ripening room, as well as those who cannot invest in a permanent facility.