Optimizing hygiene in Mexican horticulture

Geoponica is a market leader in fresh produce in the Mexican market. They are particularly known for the quality of their peppers: Red, Yellow, and Green. Peppers are grown according to the newest production methods, in state-of-the-art greenhouses. Sorting and packing is done with an automatic sortingline. In view of the ever stricter limits on the presence of microbials on fresh food, the management at Geoponica is always looking to optimize proper hygiene protocols in their operation. Thus ensuring optimal food safety for the consumer. As part of this strategy, in 2019, Geoponica invested in two advanced hygiene systems: 1) All harvest carts pass through a UV Tunnel to disinfects the surface of those carts. This ensures that the harvest carts are sanitized, without toxic chemicals, every time they pass through the sorting hall, which makes it virtualy impossible for the cart to inadvertently spread any potential pathogen to other sections of those greenhouses. 2) All peppers pass underneath a UV Hood before they are packaged. So, in the unlikely event that any contamination may be present on the pepper, the germicidal light ensures a healthy product. This is achieved without any toxic chemicals, and thus without the risk of toxic residue on their peppers. These projects were realized in close cooperation with a few leading global suppliers to the worldwide horticulture industry, including Berg Products, KOAT, and Aweta. Accountmanager Arjo van der Sluis explained: “We did the construction of this equipment in-house in our own factory. But we had to make sure all machines, from the various suppliers work well together. So, the coordination between all this machinery was done at the factory of our partners. All machines were put together in the operational layout, and tested, before the complete system left the factory. This ensured a quick, convenient installation on site. It means that our customer is not faced with any surprises during installation.” CleanLight is a supplier of UV disinfection systems, with focus on the burgeoning agricultural market, supporting more than 5000 customers in roughly 40 countries.   More InformationArjo VanderSluisarjo@cleanlight.nl+31634325124