Monday, March 27, 2006

When fresh strawberries arrive a retailer’s dock, the familiar Tectrol Red Strawberry logo bag is an important trademark.

It is TransFRESH Corporation's assurance that absolutely every thing possible has been done to make sure there is 10% or higher CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the bag. Research continues to demonstrate that high levels of CO2 are required to maintain berry shelf life. TransFRESH provides all the materials (bag, tape gasses) along with custom designed equipment for each shipper. The ultimate goal is to make sure that beneficial levels of CO2 are sealed inside the Tectrol bag. By correctly and accurately applying technology, TransFRESH has been able to maintain its market lead.

Independence is another key to our industry leadership. Because TransFRESH is not owned by any company which ships fresh strawberries, we take particular care that our technology is the best available for each strawberry shipper we service. “We consider it very important that we are independent. When you are offering a technical MAP service, ours has to be correct, said Rich MacLeod, VP of the TransFRESH Pallet Division. While we are owned by Fresh Express and hence Chiquita, these groups are not involved in the strawberry trade”.

How do we know our atmosphere is correct? While our MA350 injection machines are regularly calibrated, we also rely on shipping point and receiving point quality control observations. We are constantly evaluating the processes on both ends. Following any inspection, the information is relayed to the shipping point technicians, generally in less than 6 hours. This allows us to make adjustments, or change processes as necessary.

In 2005, over 70% of experienced strawberry buyers could identify the red Tectrol logo when asked. While we would like to think this is because of our current ad campaign featuring comic strip characters such as Captain Tectrol, Dr. Shrink, Botrytis Breath, Baby Wet and Leaky, and Dee Kay, it is more likely because of our group’s ability to provide a consistent and effective service to the trade.