Development & Optimisation of Fresh Produce Supply Chain and Storage Systems.

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As a major agri-food business operating in perishable fruits and vegetables the Sangha Refrigeration amongst other fresh produce businesses in India are currently facing high wastage levels and major operational challenges. This project involves Indian Partners Sangha Innovation Centre, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and the Center for Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB) and UK partners the University of Lincoln (National Centre for Food Manufacturing), Coveris Flexibles UK Ltd, FRPERC (Food Refrigeration & Process Engineering Research Centre) and ECH Engineering Ltd, working together to develop and optimize the fresh produce supply chain and related storage processes in India. Project activities will include the review, research and development of small (10 tonne units for small farmers and communities) and large scale cold-storage facilities for fresh produce including potatoes and other fruit and vegetables. We will also develop highly novel large volume storage control systems and a new generation of packaging materials to control moisture and gas levels during produce storage, which are biodegradable and suitable for a tropical climate and other challenges of the Indian produce supply chain. Project benefits in India will include helping small farmers to improve their living conditions by preventing rapid value loss in their crops, allowing them to keep produce long enough to sell into higher-value markets. Some fresh produce currently of sufficient quality only for use as animal feed, will as a result of this project, maintain high enough quality for human consumption, increasing availability of nutritious, efficiently produced fresh produce. These benefits will be achieved through introducing temperature control in a low-cost, energy efficient way, working in conjunction with affordable, functional packaging, some of which has the potential to be manufactured from inedible waste portions of food crops. The packaging will be home-compostable, helping to address what is already a large plastic waste challenge in India.