#multi commodity cold storage

Looking to store different products efficiently? Our ultimate guide to multi-commodity cold storage solutions offers tips for better preservation and freshness.

If you have been considering setting up a multi-commodity cold storage lately, you might be having a lot of questions!

Cold storage has been seen as a solution to preserve food and other perishable items for a long time. It not only helps reduce food waste and improve shelf life but also ensures suitable pricing for farmers.

However, before fruits and vegetables reach Indian consumers, India loses over 40% of the produce due to inefficient cold chain infrastructure, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

While we have the cold storage capacity, we are still not able to utilize them effectively. Plus, our single-commodity focused storage facilities add more losses. India needs multi commodity cold storages.

Stage-Wise Breakdown of Losses in the Cold Chain

As soon as fruits or vegetables are harvested, natural deterioration begins such as loss of moisture, freshness, and an increase in microbial activity. However, at this point, it is not visible because the product has just started losing its value.

Farm Level: At the farm gate, lack of immediate cooling causes freshness loss. It also initiates spoilage. Factors such as poor harvesting techniques, physical damage, and the absence of immediate pre-cooling facilities cause significant food losses.

Packaging: Improper packaging techniques is also one of the main factors behind the loss. If packaging material is of poor quality, it will not be able to protect the produce from physical damage and temperature fluctuations.

Transportation: Aggregators often lack refrigerated storage and vehicles. This exposes fruits or vegetables to heat and humidity. As a result, they lose weight and experience quality deterioration. And when travel time is prolonged, loading and unloading at multiple points again exposes products to different climatic conditions, adding more loss.

Mandis and Collection Centers: At mandis and collection centers, multiple handling points and insufficient infrastructure add to spoilage. Plus, contamination and bruises accelerate degradation.

Retail Shelf: Fruits and vegetables go through a long journey before they arrive at retail shelves. Their quality has already been impacted by fluctuating temperatures and other factors. This reduces their visual appeal. Inadequate display conditions and improper handling by vendors further affects its market value.

How do you think farmers manage to keep apples fresh all year round? The answer is – Controlled Atmosphere (CA) Cold Storage.

It is a facility that creates artificial conditions suitable for the long-term preservation of perishable products. This is the reason many of us can eat a crunchy apple in April that was harvested back in October.

It would not be wrong to say that this controlled storage facility is one of the most fascinating innovations in the food industry.

What CA Cold Storage Does

While traditional cold storage only controls temperature and humidity, Controlled Atmosphere Cold Storage carefully manages the atmospheric gases inside the storage room. Inside this unit, O2 levels are reduced to as low as 1-2%, CO2 levels are increased, and nitrogen is used to maintain the balance, while keeping low temperature levels and high humidity.

As a result, the CA storage reduces the metabolic rate of the stored products (like apples), which decreases their sensitivity to ethylene and may also limit ethylene production. 

This delays ripening, extends shelf life of apples and helps deliver fruits in optimal condition to consumers.

Why is Controlled Cold Storage is Necessary for Food Industry

First of all, it significantly reduces food waste. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, nearly one-third of all food produced globally goes to waste, and technologies like CA cold storage help significantly reduce this post-harvest losses.

And of course, it also extends the market window for farmers and suppliers, stabilizes supply chains and prices.

So, is CA technology only for apples? Definitely not. It can also be used to store other climacteric fruits like pears, kiwis, and blueberries.

You can enjoy your favourite butter chicken at its best quality because restaurants use blast freezers to maintain it.

So, how exactly does this freezer preserve food items? It rapidly reduces the temperature of perishable foods such as chicken, poultry, and fish, which in turn slows down their metabolic processes and increases their shelf life.

Blast Freezer for Chicken and Poultry

Most big food brands serve a wide range of meat items. This may include chicken, fish, poultry and other food products. It is essential to protect these foods from bacterial contamination and maintain their optimal quality.

This is where the blast freezer comes into the picture! It can inhibit bacterial growth and preserve nutritional value by rapidly lowering the temperature of those meat products. 

It helps maintain the texture and taste of chicken, poultry, and other stored food items.

Consequently, it increases shelf life of food and reduces spoilage, which contributes to cost savings for food businesses.

How this Freezer Works

A blast freezer consists of primary components such as evaporators, fans, temperature sensors, and control systems. 

While evaporators rapidly make the interiors cold by removing heat from the freezer, the high-velocity fans do the job of spreading the cool air evenly. The sensors monitor the freezing levels and the control system takes care of temperature and airflow.

By maintaining temperatures extremely low, blast freezers ensure optimum texture, flavour, and longevity for frozen poultry products.

Features of a Blast Freezer:

Designed to handle extreme cold, with temperatures dropping as low as -80°C

Built using high-grade stainless steel, both inside and out, for durability and a sleek finish

Insulated with polyurethane foam and equipped with a hot gas defrost system to maintain performance

Fitted with a powerful, efficient fan to ensure consistent and reliable cooling throughout

Importance of Cold Storage and Why it matters?

Cold storage is critical for reducing wastage across various industries, including agriculture and medicine. Proper temperature control can significantly impact product quality and shelf life, making cold storage solutions indispensable for businesses looking to minimize losses.

Mechair: Tailored Cold Room Solutions for your Business 

At Mechair, we supply a wide range of bespoke cold and freezer rooms tailored for both commercial and industrial purposes. Serving customers across India, we cater to several key industries, including:

Food & Drink 

Hospitals 

Warehouse & Distribution 

Agricultural 

Pharmaceutical 

Fish 

Fast and Reliable Cold Room Solutions 

Our cold room panels provide fast and reliable solutions to meet your specific needs. With a unique modular design, these panels enable quick assembly while maintaining high-quality standards. By upgrading from old, outdated systems to our newer, low-energy solutions, you can enhance efficiency and reduce operational costs.

Key Benefits of Cold Room Panels:

Rapid assembly 

Exceptional strength to weight ratio 

Reduced energy costs 

Multiple protective barriers 

Moisture and fire resistance

Ideal for food safety and hygiene

Advanced Technology for Optimal Performance

Our insulated panels utilize the latest technology, making them suitable for various applications, including:

Food Processing

Cold and Chill Stores

Deep Freeze Facilities

Clean Rooms

Pharmaceutical Industries

Mechair’s Walk-In Freezer: Precision and Reliability

Our walk-in freezer offers an excellent solution for storing frozen commodities, effectively prolonging the life of products and preventing spoilage. Designed for precise temperature monitoring, our freezers are ideal for a variety of items, including:

Fruits and Vegetables

Dairy Products

Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals

Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Foods

Constructed with PUF panels available in 120 mm and 150 mm thicknesses, our walk-in freezers comply with GMP norms. They come equipped with a refrigeration system, including an optional standby refrigeration unit for uninterrupted operation and an easy-to-use control panel.

Modular Cold Rooms: Keeping Produce Fresh

Our modular cold rooms are perfect for storing fruits, vegetables, and other perishable items, effectively prolonging freshness and preventing spoilage. These rooms maintain precise temperatures for long-term storage, ensuring uniform temperature distribution throughout the chamber while utilizing an eco-friendly, CFC-free refrigeration system.

Why Choose Mechair?

As one of the leading cold room manufacturers in India, Mechair is committed to providing the best walk-in freezers, cold rooms, and panels tailored to meet our customers' unique needs. For more information about our products and services, visit https://www.mechair.in/

Cold Storage is utilised to store products with specific temperature requirements, preventing decay and contamination. Additionally, if food products are not temperature controlled, they might spoil, leading to massive inventory loss. All products have distinct requirements and cold storage techniques. Therefore, it is crucial to have appropriate cold storage facilities to keep different fruits and vegetables fresh for an extended period with minimum cost consumption and negligible product loss. 

Various types of cold storage are employed based on the type of product, quantity and storage duration. An excellent cold storage provider can significantly impact a business’s success by top-notch product quality and regulating proper storage and distribution costs for customer satisfaction. 

Based on specific demands, cold storage can be categorised as follows:

Multi-Commodity Cold Storage - A multi-commodity cold storage is an excellent place to store vegetables and fruits, as it prolongs their life and helps prevent food spoilage. These rooms are a great choice for perishable products. The Mechair Walk-in cold room and cold storage are designed for precise monitoring of temperature conditions required for storing fruits, vegetables, flowers, dairy products, pharmaceuticals etc. They are constructed by erecting PUF panels and manufactured as per GMP norms.

Advantages of using Mechair’s Multi Commodity Cold Storage:

Maintains precise temperature for Long term cold storage 

Provides a complete solution for simulating the desired uniform temperature throughout the chamber 

Eco-friendly CFC Free Refrigeration 

Control Atmosphere Cold Storage - Controlled Atmosphere Cold Storage is a standard preservation chamber designed to provide desired cooling specifications. With world-class insulated panels, it is ideal for reliable cooling and preservation of vegetables, fruits and other goods. It is ideal to keep food, sea food, frozen food, meat, medical and other perishable products safe, cool and fresh. It can be easily installed in various sectors and sites such as horticulture, floriculture, dairy, hospitality and pharmaceuticals. 

Features of Mechair’s Controlled Atmosphere Cold Storage 

Available in a temperature range from +20C to -80C 

Keeps the product fresh and enhances their shelf life

Ensures to maintain the humidity level according to the need

Equipped with advanced dehumidifier and ultrasonic humidifier 

Specialised Onion and Garlic Storage - Storage of onions is crucial for enhancing the shelf life. Onions should not be stored unless adequately dried, either in the field or by artificial means. It is necessary to dry the neck tissues and outer scales until they rustle when handled, otherwise the bulbs will rot in storage. 

Benefits for Onion/ Garlic Storage 

Optimises maximum storage life 

Protects from damage 

Promotes Normal Dormancy 

Solar Cold Storage -  Mech-Air is the first solar based cold storage integrator company in Gujarat, providing end-to-end support in designing, engineering, procurement, commissioning and quick troubleshooting. 

Our Services:

Grid-tied Solar Photovoltaic Electric System 

Day time Solar - Night time Grid 

Hybrid Power System - Solar + Grid + D.G. Set 

10 mt to 1000 mt cold storage

Benefits: 

240/250 Wp MNRE Certified Solar Panels 

Cuts Energy Cold Store Cost by at least 75% with solar power energy 

Operates on 415v, 50 Hz

Operates 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year 

Provides 20% more efficiency than state-of-art players 

Power Optimiser Technology for the best efficiency output 

The development and production of vegetables are on the rise across the globe. Fresh and high-quality vegetables are the main pillars of generating business. There is a growing demand and requirement to diversify and create post-harvest storage, transportation and create a foundation for extending the use of vegetables beyond seasons and locations. 

The concept of Controlled Atmosphere Cold Storage stands as one of the most remarkable innovations of the 21st century. The Controlled Atmosphere Cold Storage uses oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the storage environment, along with refrigeration. It primarily comes in two forms: “Static Controlled Air Storage” where the product creates its atmosphere and “Flushed Controlled Air Storage,” where a constant flow of gas stream maintains the environment. 

The characteristics that determine consumers’ acceptance of vegetables are flavour, colour, size, shape and absence of external flaws which are influenced by various chemical and biochemical changes that occur after harvesting and during storage. Controlled Atmosphere storage of vegetables involves storing them in an atmosphere with reduced oxygen levels and relatively high carbon dioxide concentrations, at low temperature and high humidity. 

Cold Storage is the oldest and most famous technique for extending the shelf life of vegetables. To ensure product quality and maximise their useful life the following factors are regulated in a controlled atmosphere cold storage:

Ambient Temperature - Lowering the temperature in storage rooms reduces respiration and transpiration processes, preventing premature vegetable spoilage and ensuring high-quality. 

Additional benefits of low temperature:

Reduced sensitivity to ethylene 

Suppressed ethylene production 

Slow microbial development 

For long term storage, temperatures between 0 and 14𝆩C are used, depending on specific vegetable. It’s crucial to maintain a stable temperature, as minor deviation can shorten the vegetable’s lifespan. 

Relative Humidity - High relative humidity is more crucial than low temperature for vegetable storage. Maintaining a high relative humidity level reduces the transpiration process, preventing water loss. However, it is essential to avoid excessively high humidity levels, as this can promote bacterial growth and spoilage of fruits and vegetables.  

Ethylene - Climacteric fruits and vegetables, capable of ripening on their own, emit gaseous ethylene, a growth hormone, during storage. Keeping ethylene concentrations as low as possible and providing ventilation as needed is crucial.   

Carbon dioxide - In addition to ethylene, vegetables also release carbon dioxide during respiration, which accumulates in the storage room. Maintaining the required CO2 concentration levels is vital for long storage. A higher carbon dioxide level can stop ethylene production and slow down the ripening process. However,  excessively high CO2 levels can negatively impact the product appearance, taste, nutritional value and storage life.     

Oxygen - Reducing oxygen concentrations lowers the respiration rate and ethylene production, delaying ripening and ageing, thus extending the shelf life. In storage rooms, oxygen is reduced by replacing it with nitrogen or carbon dioxide. Care must be taken to ensure that oxygen levels do not fall too low, as this can affect the quality of the vegetable or fruit.