Company says move will help it achieve greater efficiency and longer shelf-life for its fruit when new season begins
Belgian company BelOrta says it has centralised its entire cherry business with the creation of a new handling centre in Sint-Truiden, around 60km east of Brussels.
Dubbed the Cherry Centre, the facility provides the supplier with a place to cool, sort, and pack the majority of its cherries when the season kicks off later this summer.
In a statement, BelOrta described the move as “a major step towards greater efficiency, sustainability and cooperation” in the sector.
“With the new season in sight, the cherry sorting activities from Borgloon and Sint-Truiden were centralised. This brings all sorting activities together for the first time in one location, which brings with it many optimisations.”
One major advantage it cited is that logistics is more efficient. Cherries no longer need to be moved between different locations, and full pallets can be prepared directly for buyers to collect in one place.
“This means fewer trips, lower CO₂ emissions, and a more sustainable logistics process,” the company noted.
A technique called hydrocooling is now used to cooled freshly harvested cherries with ice-cold water.
It apparently makes them less susceptible to damage during sorting, and also gives them a “significantly extended” shelf-life of up to ten extra days.
“This creates new possibilities for longer storage and export to new destinations,” the company added. “A hydrocooling installation will also be available in Borgloon. Growers from the region can have their cherries hydrocooled there before they are transported to the sorting centre.”
