Otflow® was launched three years ago with one single objective: to improve the inefficient airflow of reefer containers during shipping. Together with the University of Wageningen they developed the 11-meter floor cover for containers, the shape of this floor cover is designed to distribute the air more evenly throughout the container. This results in optimal conditions for the fruit during shipping and ensures the highest quality upon arrival. Nowadays the company is doing active sales in 22 countries and is constantly expanding their network of local partners.
A container full of OTFLOW leaving Rotterdam (NL), on their way to Maharashtra, India.
New partnership in India
Since its initial launch, Otflow has quickly expanded, finding customer bases around the world. “From the start, we always had our focus on South Africa and South America, because of their big volumes of fresh fruit exports,” says Michiel Minnaar, Head of Sales at Otflow. Now, the company has expanded further in a new direction with a partnership in India.
Minnaar admits that the interest and resulting partnership in India was unexpected, though much appreciated. “Never did we expect that, without having done any type of targeted sales, some of the best interest would be received from India. Actually, one of our first customers turned out to be exporters from India. It seems to be the Indian culture to always be looking for ways to improve and innovate. This is why we are happy to share that we have started a partnership in India with the company Smartpac Solutions,”
Initial focus on grape transports
As the grape season is currently underway in India, exporters are happy to incorporate Otflow into their logistical chain to ensure that their grapes will arrive with great quality. “Initially we plan to focus on grape shipments, and we believe that Otflow will help improve the storage potential and arrival condition of Indian grapes by achieving good circulation of air within the reefer containers during transit,” says Preetam Chandratreya, Managing Director of Smartpac Solutions.
Smartpac Solutions has 24 years of experience in supplying post-harvest packaging and solutions for quality improvement to the fresh fruit industry. “We are excited about this new opportunity as the official distributor of Otflow in India,” says Chandratreya, adding: “This year’s grape crop is looking good in all regions and it will be important for Indian exporters to ensure high quality standards on arrival at destination to be able to compete with other countries. We have great expectations from Otflow as the technology is promising and efforts to achieve consistent cooling during the transit of containers from India has always been challenging.”
Smartpac Solutions plans to extend the technology to other horticultural crop exports from India and will be able to arrange local deliveries and can assist with the first Otflow installations or demonstrations.
Contact detail for OTFLOW in India:
Smartpac Solutions
Sujit Nair
+919823032523
sujit@smartpac.co.in
OTFLOW sales
Michiel Minnaar
+31646095254
michiel@otflow.com