Fruit and vegetables
Ever since humanity began living in towns and not everyone could grow their own food, society has had to organise itself to supply the population in an effective manner and with guarantees. The goal of food logistics is precisely the creation of a system that allows the efficient and safe flow of these products to the end consumer. For this reason, the production and transport flow must be constant and stable.
We must take into account that fruit and vegetables are fragile, highly perishable products, so they must be transported with care as blows, temperature changes and humidity can stress and damage them, in addition to their natural ripening processes.
The challenge lies in achieving efficient transport and storage so this whole process is as quick, efficient and excellent as possible. The sell by life of the fruit and vegetables is a countdown from the moment they are harvested; preserving these products at controlled temperatures and maintaining the integrity of the cold chain is necessary to preserve their weight (fruit and vegetables dehydrate over time), their appearance (essential to lengthen their sell by and use by life) and of course, their organoleptic and nutritional properties.
For this reason, at Pujol Verdaguer we always treat fruit and vegetables with extreme care, as we want them to reach the consumer in the best condition. We are not only a transport company, we are experts in and big fans of fruit and vegetables, as well as being professionals who know the value of supplying food and the responsibility inherent in transporting and taking care of this, which we do with great enthusiasm and strictness.
Elements to take into account in the storage and transportation of fruit and vegetables.
- Appearance
- Weight
- Nutritional and organoleptic properties
- Ripening
Information on the approximate temperature at which different types of fruit and vegetables should be kept and transported is given below. These are approximate values as this also depends on other factors like the amount of time they are in the warehouse or being transported, and we must also take into account that each type of fruit and vegetable has its own particular features that require specific conditions and a specific temperature.
Temperature according to type of fruit or vegetable
- Fruit and vegetables that produce ethylene: from +2 to +4ºC
- Fruit and vegetables sensitive to ethylene: +2 to +4ºC
- Citric fruits: from +4ºC to +6ºC
- Fruit and vegetables sensitive to the cold and ethylene: from +8º to +9ºC
- Fruit and vegetables sensitive to the cold and not to ethylene: from +8º to +9ºC
- Tropical fruit in general: from +10ºC to +12ºC
- Tropical fruit that is very sensitive to the cold: +15ºC