SHELF LIFE EXTENSION USING CA FILMS

Kailash Sharma/Shubham Chandra

Chandra Associates

www.chandraassociates.com

How does it work?

SHELF LIFE EXTENSIONS USING CA FILMSCA FILMS is a unique polymer based technology, which is capable of

providing different package permeability, in order to create specific

oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in a package and maintain this

optimum atmosphere

As the produce consumes oxygen and gives off carbon dioxide, an

equilibrium gas concentration is established in the package. This process

is a function of the membrane permeability and its carbon dioxide tooxygen selectivity ratio.

Thus the created atmosphere is able to extend shelf life, maintain high

quality and preserve nutrients of fresh produce/flowers by naturally

regulating respiration of said items.

MAPS extends the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables by passivelymodifying the atmosphere of a produce bag to provide the O2/Co2levels most appropriate for that item.

SHELF LIFE EXTENSIONS USING CA FILMS

About 30-45% of the fruits and vegetables grown in India (40

million tons amounting to US$ 9.3 billion) get wasted annually due

to:

poor infrastructure,

insufficient cold storage capacity,

lack of availability of post harvest technologies

misinformation on fruits and vegetables

poor transportation infrastructure, etc.

Some of the factors leading to losses

High Pulp Temperatures

Water treatment of fruits and vegetables to increase weight leads to fungal growth

Mechanical Injuries

PRODUCE TEMPERATURE, ° C Shelf Life (CA FILM) DAYS

STATUS

Capsicum 25 17 Completed

Cauliflower 25 10 Completed

Coriander 8 18 Completed

Grapes 8 18 Completed

Radish 8 20 Completed

Spinach 8 16 Completed

Tomato 25 12 Completed

Banana 25 17 On-going

Bitter gourd 13 12 Completed

Gerbera 8 22 On0going

Gladioli 8 22 On-going

Lemon 25 14 Completed

Orange 25 27 On-going

Orange 8 26 On-going

Papaya 13 17 On-going

Roses 8 22 On-going

Products Tested at Bharti Walmart

Overnight storage of seasonal Vegetables and Leafy Vegetables

Weekly bulk purchase (instead of daily) of Banana, Papaya, fresh

seasonal vegetables, cut flowers, exotic vegetables and cut

vegetables

Dump reduction, moisture loss reduction and optimized logistical

costs

Strategic bulk sourcing and long distance movement and storage

of fruits

CA FILMS BENEFITS TO BHARTI WALMART

Test Results Snapshot

Detailed reports for each commodity is also available

All the commodities that were tested for shelf life were

purchased by Chandra Associates

Testing was conducted by Mr. Kailash Sharma, Chandra

Associates at Bharti Walmart’s Kota facility

Temperature protocols, weights and crates used for shelf life

testing were based upon Bharti Walmart’s storage protocols

CA FILMS had two Protocols, Protocol A opened daily,

Protocol B opened alternate days, Protocol C is Control

DAY 15

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 3

C 100

Crown Rotting

Black Spotting

DAY 10

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 7

C 60

Yellowing and decay

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 3

B 10

C 100

DAY 10

Pitting

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 0

B 0

C 34

DAY 14

Dehydration and decay

DAY 14

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 3

B 24

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 21

B 100

DAY 14

SclerotiniaRot

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 3

B 4

C 100

DAY 14

BotrytisRot

DAY 22

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 0

B 29

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 0

C 100

DAY 17

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 0.97

B 1

C 100

DAY 12DAY 12

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 1.16

B 0

C 23

DAY 13

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 17.01

B 21

C 41

DAY 11

FusariumRot

DAY 23

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 0

B 100

Droopings/Wilting

DAY 23

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 0

B 100

PROTOCOL LOSS (%)

A 0

B 100

DAY 20

Follow-on Trials

A second phase of trials will be conducted for the following

items:

Zucchini (green and yellow), broccoli, brinjal, okra, bottle gourd, cherry

tomato, Color Capsicum (4 colors), and mint.

Mix veg bag (cauliflower florets, cut french beans, de-podded green

peas, carrot dices), Shredded carrots bags (red carrots), Shredded

cabbage bag, cauliflower Florets bag.

Carton liners for banana, papaya and mango boxes

Return of Investment

The CA FILMS bags are re-usable and durable enough to

withstand 10 times usage

The effective price of CA FILMS bags is Rs. 1-2/kg

CA FILMS based packaging leads to improvement in

product quality (looks fresher, smells better and will increase

product pricing)

CA FILMS based packaging can extend shelf life of a variety

of fruits and vegetables to at least 7 days

Bulk Purchase Savings

Current daily purchase cost and weekly quantities are based of estimates provided byKota mandi

Rs. 6, 64, 560

Transportation savings

Rs. 2, 70, 270

Product Savings

Rs. 6, 57, 202

Total Savings

Rs. 12, 69, 632

CA FILMS Products

5kg, 10 kg and 20 kg (reusable) Polybags for bulk storage

(These bags are thick to prevent damage during shipping

and handling of produce)

1 kg, 2 kg polybags for retail

Carton Liners for 5 kg, 10 kg and 20 kg banana, papaya and

mango boxes

Carton Liners for 10-13 kg cut flower boxes

Punnets for 250 g/500 g strawberry, blueberry

ConclusionsCA FILMS based packaging leads to improvement in product

quality

CA FILMS based packaging can extend shelf life of a variety

of fruits, vegetables and cut flowers to at least 7 days

Insertion of CA FILMS technology will lead to Total Annual

Savings/Store (The Kota mandi is a small mandi, savings will

be more for bigger mandis and this covers only 20 % of fruits

and vegetables) of Rs. 12,69,632 :

Annual Bulk Savings of Rs. 664,560, Annual Transportation Savings of Rs.

270,270 , Annual Product Loss Savings of Rs. 652,202

Chandra Associates would like to thank the following individuals

at Bharti Walmart, Kota facility for helping us with these trials:

Rakesh Sharma - Store Manager

Sachin Khanna - Co-manager

AM Fresh - Ram Sharma

TL Ops - Pradeep Sharma

TL Produce - Mahesh Gupta

ATL Fresh - Manish Sharma

Floor associates - Surendra, Arvind, Rajneesh, Sita, Sheela, & Durgesh

Regional Buyer - Prateek Tiwari

THANKS

Questions?