Decco redefines post-harvest

For decades Decco has been a trusted name in post-harvest protection for fruits and vegetables. Products such as Naturcover and Melanite have become mainstays in both established and emerging markets and the company is hoping to emulate this success with its latest offering.

Since its launch last year, Decco’s revolutionary TruPick system has been winning over new customers in the US and Turkey, the two markets where it is currently registered for use. With registrations pending in the EU, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina, Decco believes 2017 could be the year in which sales really take off.

Developed by Dr Nazir A Mir of MirTech, TruPick is a proprietary and patented next generation 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) release system that helps that maintain post-harvest freshness in fruits and vegetables by controlling the effects of naturally occurring ethylene during storage and transportation.

The real innovation, explains Dr Mir, is the way the 1-MCP is delivered. “Using a micro-absorbent gel formulation in water-soluble pouches enables a more accurate dosage to be released and makes it more cost effective than other systems on the market.”

After rigorous tests on 16 different apple varieties in a range of climates, the system has been shown to be highly effective in maintaining firmness and suppressing ethylene production in both refrigerated and controlled atmosphere storage.

According to Shawn Kennedy, director of marketing and business development for Decco US-Post Harvest, TruPick represents yet another example of how the company harnesses the latest technology to help growers optimise crop quality and yield.
“TruPick joins a growing suite of products designed to enable growers and packers to get the most value, longest life and best return on investment for their fruits and vegetables,” he says.

In a departure from the role of traditional post-harvest solutions provider, Decco has recently moved to extend its sphere of influence and become a one-stop shop covering all of a company’s food safety needs. Entitled Fresh Defense, the concept was launched in the US last year and is being rolled out globally.

“The idea is to move up and down the value chain into new segments and markets,” explains Kennedy. “We want to become a true food safety partner, offering our customers a full stable of products, as well as expanding our client base into new sectors such as tropical fruit, stonefruit, table grapes and vegetables.”

In the US market, Decco already offers a number of industry-leading products developed out-of-house including Food Freshly’s solutions for fresh-cut fruits and vegetables and FruitGard, a pioneering gas fumigant developed by Food Defend.

“We want Decco to evolve into an umbrella group providing low-residue food sanitation solutions for growers and packers worldwide,” says WW marketing director Daniel Alabadi. “It’s a brand new concept and one we believe will become a mainstay in the produce industry in the future.”