Hazel Tech: Bin sachets are a reliable solution for apple growers

Hazel Technologies Inc.’s Hazel 100 bin sachets have become a versatile and reliable solution for small, midsize and even larger apple growers and cold storage operators, according to a news release.

Users of the product rely on the Hazel 100 sachet to apply the fruit-protecting treatment to their apples and also gain the advantage of “flexibility” during postharvest — when unexpected challenges against a rigid timeline can have significant consequences, according to the release.

“The Hazel 100 bin sachet is so easy when you have many varieties,” Gregg Bachman, owner of Carroll, Ohio-based Bachman’s Sunny Hill Fruit Farm, said in the release. “I don’t need to isolate the apples or put them in a separate room, and I can move apples in and out without affecting the ... treatment. The time release means my apples are constantly being treated with the time-release technology.” 

Before the Hazel bin sachets, small to mid-sized growers felt hamstrung by either a lack of storage space where they could traditionally seal and fumigate their apples with the treatment or the inability to treat fruit when cold storage receiving slows down, according to the release.

“We have about 200 acres of apples, so quality is obviously important in all aspects of our wholesale and retail business,” Joe Burnham, owner of Berlin Heights, Ohio-based Burnham Orchards, said in the release. “One thing we have done over the past couple of years is use the Hazel 100 bin sachet. It’s definitely been an asset in how we manage storage and quality of the fruit at storage and after. Gala is a variety that benefits greatly by using the sachets and we’ve seen great effect putting sachets in with Golden Delicious. We’re extremely impressed with the effect Hazel 100 has had on our quality.”

There are many apple growers, especially on the East Coast and in the Midwest, who don’t have the space to use traditional controlled atmosphere applications of the sachet, Eli Cannell, ag-tech account executive at Hazel Technologies, said in the release. “I have seen the Hazel 100 bin sachet completely transform the postharvest success of a grower by giving them the additional time [the treatment] provides apples, especially in smaller storage rooms that hold multiple varieties at once or even hallways when storage gets tight. It’s really levelling the playing field for growers.”