Did you know JBT has a range of food-safe, innovative waxes that suit almost any kind of fruit and vegetable application?
From plant-based coatings that protect against weight loss during the degreening and transportation process to innovative solutions that preserve the natural appeal of fruits and vegetables, JBT’s waxes and coatings cover nearly the complete spectrum of post-harvest challenges, helping your products reach retail shelves in optimum condition.
With solutions like Endura-Fresh 9000, which maintains a winning shine across multiple geographies and climates, to Nature-Cote’s incredible weight and sizing retention from harvesting to consumer sale, JBT’s range has been consistently innovative in adapting to market needs and specific customer requirements.
Such individual applications have included the development of a vegan wax, designed to enhance product appeal and longevity, for a major pomegranate producer. Similarly, we’ve developed a specialized coating for pineapples, aimed at helping growers cope with the prevalent issue of skin disorders in pineapples while preserving internal quality. These examples highlight our tailored approach to addressing the unique challenges faced by fruit producers.
Here Fernando Edagi, JBT’s Global Product Line Director for Fresh Produce Technology, explains what’s new in the JBT range.
Like many other companies involved in producing waxes and coatings, the focus for JBT was initially on citrus but we now offer solutions for a wide range of commodities. These waxes were always tailor-made and worked exceptionally well with certain varieties and geographies.
JBT’s Endura-Fresh 9000, a wax which can be used with equal effectiveness across a range of climates. This wax has shown successful results with its application by producers in such varying geographies as California, Texas, Florida and even other countries like Mexico and Australia.
“Endure-Fresh 9000 not only dries quickly – no matter the conditions – it holds its shine and quality all the way to the end consumer.”
Endura-Fresh 9000 is being applied across multiple citrus commodities, including grapefruit, lemons, oranges, easy peelers, and limes, with growers taking advantage of the wax’s ability to dry no matter the climate conditions.
The JBT team is extremely proud of the fact that once you get fruit out of the drying tunnel, Endura-Fresh 9000 holds the fruit shine and quality all the way to the final consumer.
We have also recently launched Endura-Fresh 196VP, a new, all-vegan coating for pomegranates. The coating was developed after a customer approached JBT asking for a vegan wax for their pomegranates. We accepted the challenge and started work on a completely vegan coating that has now been launched commercially.
The results so far have been phenomenal. The pomegranate season is very short, running from October to around early December, but our customer enjoyed a very successful season – and this time they were able to count on an all-vegan wax.
Another natural solution is Nature-Cote, a coating which uses 100% plant-based materials and can be used successfully across a very wide spectrum of commodities, including kiwifruit, melon, citrus, apples, avocados, cucumbers, and mangos, among others.
Nature-Cote is an incredible product development that retains the size of the fruit during storage and stops shrinkage. During cold storage, fruit typically loses moisture and as a result, its size can be significantly downgraded.
Nature-Cote helps fruit retain its original size, resulting in our customers being able to yield more boxes. This is a huge benefit which we are currently validating in commercial trials, but all the initial data shows the same positive results.
A further benefit of using Nature-Cote is its ability to protect fruit during degreening. Huge volumes of citrus are harvested green and require degreening, but it’s very common for the fruit to lose weight during the process. Nature-Cote can be applied after harvesting to act as a physical barrier during degreening in a quite remarkable fashion. After testing, the JBT team found that applying Nature-Cote helps protect fruit without any negative impact on the degreening process.
Another challenge, especially faced by pineapple producers, is controlling depressed pitted area (DPA). DPA is a skin disorder characterized by sunken, pitted areas that detract from the fruit’s visual appeal. This cosmetic defect can affect the marketability of pineapples, making their appearance less appealing to consumers. By applying JBT’s Sta-Fresh 2952 post-harvest, the occurrence of these skin disorders in pineapples is greatly reduced, plus it significantly helps with weight loss control.
This high quality, innovative pineapple coating has been developed especially for packers who require attractive fresh fruit appearance when transporting to distant markets. It has the added bonus of providing excellent protection for pineapples by controlling dehydration and delaying color development resulting in maximum flavor and firmness.
However, the benefits of Sta-Fresh 2952 wax does not stop there. As part of JBT’s commitment to constant improvement, we have worked to increase the product concentration in each drum shipped to customers. Our drums now contain 70% solid, concentrated product compared with an industry norm of between 34-40%.
“JBT has worked to boost the amount of concentrated wax and coatings in each drum shipped to customers, saving on time, shipping and storage.”
This means customers can significantly reduce their shipping costs and carbon footprint, and reduce the number of drums they need to store. This is all part of our commitment to continuous improvement to make the lives of our customers a little bit easier.
JBT’s range of waxes and coatings stands as a testament to innovation and adaptability in the world of post-harvest solutions. From the versatile Endura-Fresh 9000 to the all-vegan Endura-Fresh 196VP and the game-changing Nature-Cote, these products address the unique challenges faced by fruit producers worldwide. As JBT continues to evolve and improve its offerings, it remains committed to supporting growers and packers in delivering high-quality fruits and vegetables to consumers around the globe.
FIND OUT MORE about JBT’s range of fresh produce and postharvest solutions