From the orchard to the centre: vigilance at every stage

 

Early traceability

Preparing a traceability system implies introducing a product identification system and information registration. For producers, the traceability system enables a product’s origin to be determined, i.e. the production plot. Information such as the harvest or conditioning date should also to be taken into account, as should all interventions in the orchard.

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Harvesting: careful selection

©Pascal Xicluna

http://photo.agriculture.gouv.fr

Apples are picked over several stages to obtain the optimum physiological stage of maturity for them to be preserved chilled and resume flavour and aroma development as soon as they return to normal conditions. At harvesting the fruit farmer chooses high grade, nicely coloured fruits without bruises. A first careful selection is made in the orchard and only marketable fruits are picked.

The fruit is picked by hand and placed in picking bags or directly into crates or on mats and then put into the box pallet (a 300 to 400kg crate). The box pallets go straight from the orchard to the fruit centre.

The picked apples are very quickly transported after harvest to cold chambers (temperature under 5°C) as near as possible so as to preserve the fruit’s quality.

Fruit which does not meet European standards (bruises, deformation, pitting, etc.), has insufficient colour or extreme grades but which meet special specifications is destined for transformation.

Post-harvest: quality fruit centres

After being harvested, the fruit is organised into batches (1 batch corresponds to fruit of the same variety, from the same plot and having followed the same technical route), according to the number of the plot from where it has come, to ensure early traceability.

When it reaches the fruit centre, the fruit is sorted, identified, checked and guaranteed, so as to preserve the quality obtained in the orchard, in rigorously hygienic premises and using very advanced automation.

Storage

The fruit centres are equipped with cold chambers or controlled atmosphere chambers to maintain the quality of the taste and for a conservation period ranging from a few weeks to several months.

• - Harvesting material cleaned and disinfected
• - Cooling equipment in chambers regularly checked and maintained at their optimum operating level

Determination of the quality of the batches (inspection)

When they reach the fruit centre, a series of criteria determines the quality of each batch according to several criteria:

©Pascal Xicluna

http://photo.agriculture.gouv.fr

• - sugar level
• - grade
• - skin coloration
• - acidity level
• - firmness
• - visual faults

Grade, coloration and category are determined on high-tech, automated sorting channels. The centres are equipped with specialised material: sorters, calibrators, penetrometers to test firmness, and refractometers to assess sugar levels. These stages ensure the homogeneity of the fruit in the same batch.

Because of their fragility, the apples are submerged in a stream of water which takes them down to the conditioning channels.

Conditioning and labelling

Conditioning is the last stage before export. Depending on orders, the products are conditioned in trays, crates, bags, containers or bushels (especially destined for export, 18.2kg).

During conditioning, qualified staff determine the apples’ category. The fruit is classed in 3 EXTRA categories: I and II meet every precise, qualitative criterion. Once conditioned, they are labelled. The label displays the origin of the apple with its batch number, grade, variety and finally category.

In the fruit centre a HACCP approach is introduced to ensure that consumers receive a safe product without health risks.

 

The HACCP approach

HACCP means Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points: this is the application of a systematic scientific method to identify the dangers connected to raw materials and the different operations performed on the foodstuff, giving them a hierarchy and determining the critical points where significant risks can appear. Tools are then introduced to control these risks and ensure the safety of the final product delivered to the consumer.

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