Portable Precooler System Cools Cherries In Hour
July 2, 2014 
Global Cooling Inc.’s Jet Precooler portable tunnel equipment showed to fully cool cherries in an hour in two separate grower/packing shed tests done by the company. The tests were conducted in Wenatchee, WA, and were run with both bagged fruit and also in clamshell containers, with pallets averaging 2,000 pounds of weight. Cartons weighing 18 pounds and also 20 pounds were used.
“The cherries have much longer shelf life, there is greater net weight for retailers to sell, the fruit is more disease-resistant, the fruit stays pretty, and doesn’t wrinkle so much,” Jim Still, founder and president of Global Cooling Inc., says. “Prompt and proper precooling is a postharvest magic that reduces produce and floral respiration, and in so doing, minimizes water loss, which is the key to maximizing shelf life and salable weight, and preserving curb appeal and flavor.”
Still says the jet produces 8 times as much airflow as do the other systems.
“We did the full cooling with only 18-horsepower-hours of electricity, as opposed to the old way that uses 40-horsepower hours. We cooled in 1/8th of the time, for less than ½ of the electrical cost,” he says.
Still touts the profitability of the extra 1% of product weight in such a rapid cooling, as well as the efficiency of use.
“With the PNW cherries the operational gains of 1 hour precooling are just astounding. Less tractor-trailers backed up in the yard, some of the now unused CA rooms can be turned off completely, in other cases they can also now be used for additional cold storage for packed-out apples and pears, and we are so energy-efficient,” says Still.
Source: Global Cooling Inc. news release
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