Spotlight: Koppert's cold chain

"We want our beneficials to arrive to our clients in the best possible conditions. They should be energetic and ready to work and we do everything to achieve that," says Arnold Janssen, Koppert Expedition production manager. He says that Koppert controls the conditions for the entire chain. Once beneficials are produced, they are stored in a cold room. They are then placed in a refrigerated environment and packaged in bottles or tubes, after which the product is placed again in cooling cells, of which Koppert has several with different temperature settings. "Every beneficial is stored in the temperature that best suits it. We not only prevent high temperatures, but also the beneficials' development, as we want them to save their energy so that once they arrive to the customer they can start working at their full potential."

It is then the turn of the Expedition department. The beneficials here remain in a refrigerated environment and are packed to order. Immediately afterwards they go in refrigerated vehicles to customers in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is important for the products to be carefully delivered. "If they wish to introduce the beneficials immediately, there is little to worry about, as that is also what we recommend, but if the customer plans to do it later, the product should be kept refrigerated in the specific storage conditions required."

Arnold Janssen states that Koppert employs strict protocols throughout the chain, also with bumblebees. "We regularly analyse the protocols. If there is anything that could be done better, it is immediately applied. We simply want to prevent any possible mistakes in advance." For this reason, Koppert's new employees for the Manufacturing, Packaging and Expedition department are always given an extensive internal training. "That's why we always confidently pass the controls of the independent Food Safety Authority. We heavily invest in quality and this investment pays off. Koppert has gained a reputation as a supplier which pursues quality beyond quality."

For deliveries to distant overseas destinations Koppert uses data loggers, which are small devices that regularly measure the temperature and humidity conditions. The reason? For deliveries abroad Koppert must hand the product out to third parties, such as airlines. "Unlike deliveries in the Netherlands, in those cases we have no further control. If, unfortunately, something goes wrong, we know the cause from the readings in the data loggers and we can then take appropriate action."