“International shipping of organic produce is very difficult,” says Christian DeBlasio with Purfresh. Organic produce can experience reduced shelf-life due to the absence of chemical protection. As a result, most organic produce is shipped by air, which can be four to five times the cost of ocean freight. “Some companies even decide not to sell organic produce overseas for that reason,” said DeBlasio.

In today’s world, produce varieties are shipped from one part of the globe to another and in some cases, spend weeks in reefer containers. To ensure produce reaches the destination in the best possible condition, Purfresh has developed Active Atmosphere. “In 2008, we introduced Active Atmosphere with Ozone to the market,” says Christian DeBlasio, co-owner of Purfresh. “Ozone reduces mold growth and enhances food safety.”

Blueberries can be highly susceptible to decay from airborne and surface microorganisms that are often present in storage or transport environments. When stored under standard chilled atmosphere conditions, blueberries will typically only last 10-18 days, dramatically limiting the ability to economically transport them over long distances. This short storage life forces many international blueberry exporters to make strategic decisions with transport technology methods and practices to reach a broader, global market.

The global network that manages your international refrigerated cargo transport is complex. The transport process for a piece of fruit, or high value cargos such as pharmaceuticals, move from a loading warehouse in one country and arrive at an unloading warehouse in another country, while involving many different modes of transportation. When these cargos require specific maintained temperatures, many shippers and exporters utilize 40-foot-long, ocean going refrigerated containers, most commonly referred to as “reefers” or reefer containers.

The consistent and common thread for most controlled atmosphere technologies is that they all manage some form of increased CO2 (carbon dioxide) and decreased O2 (oxygen), from the normal levels of breathable air, that we see at sea level, 21% oxygen and 0.04% carbon dioxide. The process of increasing CO2 and decreasing O2 as a controlled atmosphere process, when fruits and produce are transported in ocean containers, can result in shelf life extension benefits for several different perishable cargo types.

In 2016 Purfresh has shaken up the global container shipping industry through it’s first to market, third party web interface, intellipur.com, that allows two-way communication with refrigerated container data controllers. While a select few ocean carriers do have private, in house, limited remote connection with their refrigerated container controllers, none of them allow shippers, importers, or BCO’s the ability to monitor all reefer container sensors, and make remote temperature set-point changes when necessary, as the Purfresh intellipur.com system allows.