TRADE AND MARKET I NG Turkish crisps market is experiencing rapid growth and PepsiCo is benefiting the seed. Our storage computer is already collecting a lot of data, and we want to combine this with data from the cultivation process in order to optimise the storage procedure. In this way, we offer as much extra information to the chain as possible’, De Visser explains his vision. Good results with Freshbox In the enormous storehouse with a spacious central aisle, Tolsma’s export manager Kees Wijngaarden explains that they had chosen an airbag ventilation system in combination with mechanical cooling for the storehouse. ‘We blow the air through a number of aisles between the boxes in the storage place. These aisles are sealed with an inflatable shutter (the airbag). This enables us to force the air through the boxes, allowing us to dry and cool the potatoes properly. We control the whole system with our Vision Control storage computer. This ensures that we use optimum conditions for cooling and regulating the CO2 content. The regulation of CO2 in particular requires extra attention. At the end of the storage period, at the beginning of June, temperatures often rise considerably in Turkey. That’s why we installed our new Freshbox system in a cell. A heat exchanger has been placed in the Freshbox that we cool with the cold indoor air and we also provide extra moisture. This ensures that instead of the incoming air of, for example, 30 degrees Celsius the air now enters the storeroom with a temperature of 12 degrees Celsius with a maximum amount of water vapour in the air flow. As a result, we use less energy and the potatoes remain much cooler and we ensure that we keep the relative humidity and CO2 in balance. Because we let physics do its work in the Freshbox, the system doesn’t require a great deal of energy. Maintaining CO2 levels is particularly important with regard to potato crisps. We’ve already achieved good results with this system in Canada, where we had up to 2 percent less storage loss than with a traditional storage system and also achieved a better frying quality’, Wijngaarden tells the PepsiCo agronomists. SUSTAINABLE FERTILISER CREATES A CLOSED ORGANIC SYSTEM Together with the Turkish company, Hexafirm, PepsiCo has developed its own organic-mineral fertiliser that Hexafirm makes from organic waste flows from the factory. ‘In this way, we’ve created a closed system, whereby we also improve the fertility of the Turkish potato fields’, says Sari. ‘Due to a lack of good management, a lot of the soil in Turkey is depleted and it has a low organic matter content. Improve organic waste Hexafirm Naturalis is a fertiliser especially developed for PepsiCo and contains a combination of organic matter and mineral fertilisers such as N (nitrogen), P (phosphate), K (potash) but also Zn (zinc) and SO3 (sulphur trioxide). The special feature of the fertiliser is that all organic matter comes from waste flows. In the PepsiCo factories, the organic potato waste is first improved in a biogas plant, after which Hexafirm composts the remaining digestate. By mixing and pressing the compost in a certified way, a fertiliser is then produced that creates a microclimate around the plant roots. This allows the roots to grow more easily and improves the use of minerals, as a result of which the yield is increased, according to the results of research carried out by the company. Because PepsiCo determines which fertiliser the growers should use, there is a lot of practical experience. This shows that, according to Sari, the fertiliser forms a good basis for sustainable cultivation. Sustainability is important Sustainability is an important subject for PepsiCo, as it turned out again during the study day. With the slogan ‘Performance with Purpose’, the company wants to combine sustainability with economic benefits. According to Sari, the fertiliser is a good example of how to bring sustainability into the potato chain. ‘Hexafirm Naturalis has a positive influence on the improvement of the planet by reducing the ecological footprint and also optimising the soil fertility. Looking at making people stronger and at economic benefits, the fertiliser improves the financial results of the growers in both the short and the long term’, says Sari. Sustainability is an important subject for PepsiCo, as it turned out again during the study day in Turkey. Potato World 2019 • number 2 25 Pagina 24
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