StePac LA Ltd, is a modified atmosphere (MA) and modified humidity (MH) packaging company, which specialises in facilitating successful, global, fresh produce transactions via innovative packaging and support services. StePac’s patented Integrated Post Harvest System is geared to enhance performance throughout the entire fresh produce supply chain, from grower to consumer. The system is marketed under the brand name Xtend®.
The Xtend® system includes technologically advanced support services provided by StePac field experts, who have been brought in from a variety of scientific backgrounds. The team works closely with companies across the fresh produce supply chain, providing:
• client system consulting services
• produce treatments and quality assurance support
• technical and logistic support services
• custom carton packaging
• a container loading system which enables maximum, laminar airflow throughout the layered cartons on the pallets and throughout the entire container
• and technical support and inspection evaluation services.
StePac sees its role as one that reduces pressure on all links in the supply chain while simultaneously adding value.
“StePac first became involved in the fresh produce business because we saw a synergy between our medical sterilisation packaging experience and the emerging requirements in the containment of the spread of bacteria and decay causing organisms with uses relating to post harvest in fresh produce,” says Israel Ben-Tzur.
“We started to develop customer-tailored polymers as MA and MH packaging. Fruit and vegetables are living organisms and bacteria needs to be suppressed to extend shelf-life. Once we moved into the produce arena we invested heavily in making it work; opening our own research and development centre and micro-biological laboratory. We hired experts in the field and over time developed into a global company. Once we had a marketable product, we branded it with the Xtend® name to reflect the value of our product and services, as is offered to the fresh produce supply chain.”
He adds: “We develop packaging that enables fresh produce lines with their specific physiological characteristics to meet the extended storage and shelf life requirements within the logistical constraints.”
The design of the packaging takes into account the original condition of fruit, health and safety requirements, and the environment through which it is going to travel, with the aim of optimising the produce’s ability to deal with the consequences of any predictable changes in atmospheric condition.
StePac decided to tackle what it identified as some of the most difficult produce items to distribute, including bananas, papayas, asparagus, weaker melon varieties such as Galia and Charentais, and delicate stonefruit such as cherries.
It was recognised from day one that progress was a time-consuming affair and StePac decided on a systematic approach. “We took one produce item at a time, focusing on post harvest solutions and developing MA products specific to each item and each variety,” says Ben-Tzur “A task force of Xtend® logistic and post harvest experts was assembled alongside our clients and together we entered into the project with a systems-based approach. It proved to be a sound decision. With Galia melons, for example, in 1998 we started with a few thousand boxes as trial shipments. It took us over a year to define the parameters of quality, the type of polymer that would meet the shelf life and storage life requirements and the logistic concerns such as cooling, transportation and the performance of the bag in fluctuating temperature.” Based on the initial development work for Galia, melon solutions have since been created for other varieties such as Charentais, Cantaloupe, Piel de Sapo, baby seedless watermelon and Honeydew.
Ben-Tzur says: “We did the same thing for bananas, starting with bulk packaging for organic bananas and later developed a bag for the yellow banana to extend retail shelf life. Then, we developed bulk and retail packs that provide the ability to pack at source and keep bananas green until desired before triggering them to yellow without the need for repacking. This has proved to be a very successful programme / product for growers, category managers and retailers.”
The developments just keep on coming. StePac’s latest focus has seen attention switch to papayas. “We have taken papayas from South America and now successfully moved them to Europe by ship and provided extended shelf life in Europe at excellent quality levels for consumers and the foodservice industry,” said Ben- Tzur.
“Our most recent asparagus programme offers, a pack-in-the-field microwavable pack that preserves freshness and shelf life from the field to the fork and offers ultimate convenience for the consumer,” he added. “The bag actually continues to preserve quality and freshness in the consumer’s fridge after purchase and, as it is clean and protected from contamination resulting from logistic and consumer handling, consumers can simply pop the asparagus into the microwave, in the bag, and have a tasty, nutritious dish with absolutely no fuss.”
Ben-Tzur believes that StePac’s success in introducing the products it has developed to date is that innovations are based on the results of extensive research into customer needs and problems. “We don’t superimpose a solution because of bag availability,” he said. “To truly respond to our clients, we structure ourselves in such a way that we present ourselves as a team. This team provides desired solutions to clients.
“That’s what I feel is unique to StePac. We are not a packaging company, we are a post harvest solution company.”
For example, StePac developed for the US market a comprehensive and complete iceless system for fresh broccoli and spring onions consisting of a custom tailored bag-in-a box product supported by remote data acquisition for management of temperature reduction and produce weight-loss to comply with the upcoming US government “COOL” (Country of Origin Logistics) and health and safety requirements.
The Xtend® Hot Water Spray and Brush is another example of a post harvest solution designed in response to identified requirements in the fresh produce market. This is now applied successfully with sweet peppers, melons and mangoes.
To complete these programmes, consulting staff are often sent on location for several months. For example technical expert Mark Gimeinez recently returned to the Netherlands after spending four months in Brazil on the papaya project, working with StePac’s Brazilian clients. StePac had staff on location in Argentina for two years during a program working to overcome problems with fruit fly-free produce cherries shipped from Argentina to the US. “The fruits of this investment enabled us to apply the knowledge gained in Argentina and adapt it to Turkey, which ships the highest quality cherries in the world to Europe,” says Ben-Tzur. “We further apply and adapt the technology to other suppliers around the globe, always with the aim of supplying the highest quality produce.
“Traditionally, some of these fruits have been on the shelf in supermarkets throughout Europe and on many occasions they have either had very little shelf life or a degree of extended shelf life attained through expensive transportation and high logistic costs,” he says.
“After the events of September 11, when space for airfreight became tighter and premiums shot up, the alternative for air shipments using Xtend® became even more attractive and sought after.”
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