Once the manufacturers of tools geared only to research institutions, Felix instruments is now servicing the commercial produce market with their ethylene measurement tool. Growers, packers and distributors are aware of the importance of ethylene regulation when handling fruit and Felix Instruments now offers a way to accurately measure and monitor ethylene levels easily and accurately.
Felix Instruments is a newly formed subsidiary of CID Bio-Science, Inc.. CID Bio-Science has been providing research scientists with plant science tools for more than 23 years. But six years ago, Leonard Felix acquired the company and saw there was a bigger market they could serve. He used his company’s experience in gas analysis and hyper-spectral imaging and directed it towards the commercial market.
“The company was very good at building gas analysis tools, and we were working on ethylene detection for plant research,” explained Felix. “That opened our eyes to a way we could segue into food commerce, so we put together a new company to build a new distribution channel for products for the commercial market.” Their first offering, the F-900 Ethylene Gas Analyzer, detects and measures the amount of ethylene present in the air. While those in the produce industry are well aware that ethylene management can prolong fruit shelf life, Felix noted that there aren't many products on the market that can measure the levels of ethylene present during shipment or storage.
“We've reached a point where everyone knows what ethylene is and they know they should manage it, but they don't have the tools to do it.” Felix pointed out. “Remediation technologies have hit the market far ahead of measurement technologies in the form of absorbers and scrubbers and the like”. The F-900 is portable, so it can be used to easily detect the ethylene levels in various locations throughout a facility to determine conditions prior to implementing remediation, or be used as a fixed sensor that feeds information to a controlled atmosphere system.
The analyzer can currently detect and measure ethylene down to less than 20 ppbv, but newer iterations of the analyzer will have up to three sensors that can also measure carbon dioxide and oxygen levels.
So far, Felix said the F-900 has been well received, with particular interest coming from Europe, Japan, and the United States, and while the hope is that logistics companies will one day see their analyzer as an indispensable piece of equipment on their shipping containers, he's focusing on first spreading the word via post-harvest consultants.
“We'd like to put our analyzers in the hands of well-connected, knowledgeable, post-harvest storage consultants,” said Felix. “Once those consultants start using it to advise their clients, those clients will then want to acquire that tool for themselves.”
For more information:
Leonard Felix
Felix Instruments/CID Bio-Science
Tel: +1 (360) 833-8835 ext. 202
Fax: +1 (360)833-1914
E-mail: lfelix@cid-inc.com
www.felixinstruments.com






Announcements
Job Offers
- Head Grower Greenhouse Canada
- Post Entry Quarantine Facility Manager
- Economic Policy Officer Agri-Tech Kentucky
- Licensing Manager North America
- Junior Sales Executive
- Fruit Breeder/Trait Discovery Scientist
- General Manager
- Regional Sales Manager – DACH Region
- Country Manager – Italy
- Country Manager – Spain
"Tweeting Growers"
Top 5 -yesterday
Top 5 -last week
- “Black growbags could benefit vegetable crops as well”
- Latvia: First greenhouse to grow cucumbers under LEDs uses landfill waste to produce energy
- "Moisture is the big danger in the next two months"
- "Even light intensity at every spot in the greenhouse"
- US (OH): 80 Acres Farms makes layoffs as tech job crunch continues
Top 5 -last month
- How farmers are cutting out supermarkets
- Combining vertical farming and greenhouse horticulture to decentralize lettuce production
- Higher light transmission and lower heat demand with double foil greenhouse
- Fresh produce chain hit by Lakeside Produce’s bankruptcy
- 30MHz declared bankrupt, curator 'optimistic about restart'
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2023-01-10 Retail Sleeve offers plastic-free alternative to pots
- 2022-11-17 Kenya to provide freighters for agri-exports
- 2022-11-14 Angus Soft Fruits now importing berries using reduced-plastic, cushioning punnet to improve quality and recyclability.
- 2022-11-11 "Process automation facilitates the reduction of production costs in citrus warehouses"
- 2022-11-11 "Elastic and non-elastic yarns with ecologically sustainable materials"
- 2022-10-26 'Reefer container rates expected to decrease at a significantly slower pace through 2023'
- 2022-09-22 New cling film is compostable with industrial versatility
- 2022-09-19 Snack tomato packaging wins 'Carton of the Year 2022' award
- 2022-09-13 "Products washed with peroxide have a longer shelf life"
- 2022-08-29 Strauss's leapfrogging in sustainable packaging by ROP for salads and leafy greens
- 2022-08-25 UK: Plant packaging manufacturer is exhibiting at the Four Oaks Trade show
- 2022-08-24 "No doubt robotic harvesters will be common in greenhouses very soon"
- 2022-08-18 Sustainable closure sealing and labelling of fruit and vegetable trays
- 2022-08-12 New application for disinfection of fresh-cut fruits by means ozone in the packaging
- 2022-07-07 New cold storage and research rooms put into operation at Proeftuin Randwijk
- 2022-07-07 Fruit that always has the best taste and bite thanks to All-in-One Spectral Cabinet
- 2022-06-30 50% more plants thanks to new strawberry cultivation system
- 2022-06-01 Proseal pioneers workable alternatives to plastic tray sealing
- 2022-05-27 European retailers called out for not going all-in on curtailing plastic pollution
- 2022-05-27 Is the economy threatening packaging sustainability?