Jet-Precoolers proving cost-effective
“For some of our customers,” said Jim Still, Global's president and inventor of the Jet-Ready, “our Jet is the first precooler they have ever had. A single Jet can be used across multiple harvests. For example here in the Northeast USA, it begins with asparagus, then strawberries, tomatoes, blueberries, peaches, apples, and so on as the various crops come in.”
“Because it's portable, the Jet can be relocated into a 55F room from a 34F room as the harvest moves to tomatoes from strawberries, and a single precooler is all a farmer needs.” This is as opposed to permanent, built in place, so-called “bulkhead walls” which are more traditionally used for precooling.
Global has also supplied Jet precoolers to very large growers too, “and here our Jets are the capacity management piece of the puzzle. They might already have 8 or 10 built-in precoolers,” he said, “but as daily harvest and packout increase, precooling capacity can come under performance pressure. Nobody wants to see 20 or 40 pallets of palletized produce just sitting on a dock waiting for a precooler to come available.”
“Two or three Jet-Ready portables allows them to pick up the pace again where and when needed, maintaining top notch quality and shelf life instead of suffering from growing pains.” A unique design feature of the Jet units, according to Still, allow them to be moved about from one local plant to another, simply lying down in the bed of a pickup truck.
Cold Storage companies, or 3PLs, also are using more Jet Precoolers, according to Still.
The company claims it's Jet-Ready precoolers are presently being used to cool cut flowers, cherries, grapes, berries, melons, papaya, mango, asparagus, herbs, lettuce, citrus, apples, pears, apricots, tomatoes, cukes, bell peppers, bananas, and many other products. “At its most basic, the Jet is a powerful piece of equipment that delivers a huge amount of airflow at high static pressure,” said Jim Still, Jr., Global's Vice President. “Some customers think outside the box, and are using our equipment to speed-dry RPCs, blast-freeze and blast-thaw processed product, and we even broke into hops drying for beer production last year.”
The fact that the Jet fans are designed especially for forced-air cooling, and are not just picked from a general-purpose fan catalog, means that the Jet Precoolers are very powerful. According to one Pacific Northwest user who presently operates six Jet-Ready PreCoolers, “committing to a program with your company allows for the end user to have a consistent set of machinery, instead of a bunch of different repurposed fans.”
He continued, “this consistency is huge, as once a warehouse is using consistent machinery you are able to create a standardized 'recipe book' for how long each package type and commodity takes to cool. No longer is it necessary to constantly send employees into the tunnel location and conduct temperature tests.”
The season is picking up quickly for Global Cooling, who has already added new users in Florida and Tennessee just this past week. More domestic partnerships are on the horizon, and the company plans on attending The Texas International Produce Association's Viva Fresh Produce Expo from March 26th to 28th in Austin, Texas. “Face to face interactions with 3PLs and end users are the best way to introduce our product, what we do, and where we can help take your company,” says the elder Still. “There's so much to do, it feels great getting out from under the snow and ready for the new season like this.”
Still added that Global Cooling is looking to add an even smaller, more portable version of the precooler in the future. With consistent innovation and proven products, Global Cooling should have many more successful seasons in the years to come.
For more information:
Jim Still
Global Cooling Inc.
Tel: +1-610-248-9800
Email: Solutions@Pre-Coolers.net
www.PreCoolers.net