A timely switch back to plastic crates has helped Brisbane-based produce supplier Favco reduce spoilage in its shipments of citrus fruits after a brief flirtation with using cardboard boxes.
Favco was established in July 1999 as a joint venture between two established fruit and vegetable marketing family-owned businesses. Located in the Brisbane Fruit and Vegetable Markets, the company supplies major supermarket chains and independent retail groups as well as secondary wholesalers. It operates through a networked grower base, providing a spread of growing districts to ensure the uninterrupted supply of our key product offerings throughout the seasons.
Favco has farms in Mundubbera and Mareeba in north Queensland and also sources citrus from no less than 150 growers across Australia including citrus from the Riverina (NSW), Riverland (SA) and the Mildura regions (Vic).
Like all fresh produce suppliers, the company's supply chain and produce transport systems are vital to delivering their wares to retailers in top condition.
Favco citrus grower and market agent Chris Deveney said that as a pragmatic company, Favco has re-affirmed crates as its first choice for shipping oranges and mandarins through the retail chain.
The company has been a long term user of crates from logistics specialist CHEP. It was one of the first users of CHEP crates when they were first introduced for the produce industry in 2000. It also uses CHEP bins for picking and CHEP pallets when transporting loads.
In recent years, however, it experimented with fibreboard cartons as an alternative to its usual practices. The results, however, were not encouraging
As Deveney explained, fruit spoilage, particularly of citrus crops such as oranges and mandarins, was soon identified as an issue.
"If cardboard gets wet for any reason you get compression in the fruit," Deveney said.
"Also, as cartons are put on trucks they tend to compress together.
"As fruit growers invest blood, sweat and tears into their products, while protecting and nurturing trees for years before they yield a commercial crop, the last thing the grower wants is to see his fruit damaged or the quality compromised as it travels through the supply chain."
While Favco persevered with using the cartons for oranges, it early on realised that it would not be acceptable for transporting mandarins.
"We never stopped using them for mandarins," Deveney said. "Mandarins are less robust than oranges, and require a tightly controlled cool chain to maintain quality."
It soon became clear, however, that even for transporting the hardier orange products, the cost in terms of spoilage was too high, and did not cover the reductions achieved by using the cardboard products over the traditional crates.
Even the robust navel copped a beating in cardboard compared to crates, with damage rates increasing by 50 per cent on large fruit.
As soon as it was known that oranges would again be accepted in crates, Deveney said Favco switched back to the plastic crates.
"The crates look after the product better," he said. "They travel better, get better airflow through the product, which maintains the cool chain better and therefore the product quality is better.
"Also there's no sag. You don't get that with crates. The crates transport beautifully through the supply chain and they don't damage fruit."
"They [the crates] improved our overall performance, and we've been a fan of them ever since."
