40 ■ SHIPPING & WAREHOUSING
C&CI
As previously highlighted in C&CI,
March 2010
hermetic storage techniques Hermetic technology
have been used to store cocoa
for a number of years. However,
they are increasingly also being
used for storage
used for intercontinental shipment
of cocoa, in origins as diverse as
and
SuperGrainbags-HC with 2.5 tonne
capacity inside protective polypropylene
Indonesia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana
and Brazil, and for the
transportation of coffee shipping
T
he primary problems facing cocoa, of origin," Mr Villers told C&CI.
both in storage and in shipment, are GrainPro recommends the use of its
insect infestation and damage; the TranSafeliner (TSL) for intercontinental cocoa
growth of moulds; an increase in Free Fatty and coffee shipments, the TSL being an air- Mr Villers says some other suppliers of
Acids (FFAs), which can cause cocoa to tight liner inside a standard 20ft or 40ft ship- cocoa and coffee prefer hermetic (air-tight
become rancid, destroying the quality of the ping container. It can be used for cocoa as and moisture-tight) protection using individ-
beans; and environmental problems due to well as for other high value commodities ual 60kg to 90kg capacity SuperGrainbags
chemical usage and growing insect tolerance such as sunflower seeds and coffee beans. (SGBs), which act as hermetic liners inside
to fumigants. conventional jute or polypropylene bags.
As Philippe Villers, President of GrainPro
Protecting
Inc in Concord, Massachusetts explained to
C&CI
Insect mortality
, a recent trial in Ghana using three 20
specialty coffee
tonne GrainPro cocoons holding 220 60kg In 2009, a Guatemalan shipper, FLORA SA in
ensured
bags of sun-dried cocoa resulted in an oxy- Antigua, Guatemala, shipped 76 container Testing in the field in Indonesia and Ghana,
gen concentration of less than 1 per cent loads of specialty coffee protected with using cocoa beans with a moisture level of 6-
oxygen over an 8 day period, with all insects TranSafeliners from Guatemala in order to 8 per cent, has proved that hermetic storage
infesting the cocoa dead at the end of a ensure that the quality of the coffee was pre- leads to 100 insect mortality in a matter of
nine-week trial. Similar results were obtained served. days to several weeks. Due to commodity
with cocoa stored in 60kg SuperGrainbags in FLORA SA’s General Manager, Estuardo and insect respiration, the oxygen level
Ghana. Falla, said: "We used the TranSafeliners with reaches an unbreathable level, below 1 per
"Transoceanic shipments - particularly of every shipment of our coffee during the last cent, and CO
2
levels rise to 20 per cent.
high value commodities such as cocoa and season as a means to secure the quality of At 1 per cent oxygen, FFA levels stabilize
coffee - are subject to great uncertainty as to the product while in transit all the way to our because FFAs are created through an oxida-
transit time, cross contamination from other clients roasters in the US and Germany. We tion process, which cannot continue at very
commodities, exposure to extreme tempera- were insuring ourselves that we would not low levels of oxygen. Moulds do not grow in
tures and uneven heating due to solar expo- have any returns because of spoiled coffee the absence of relative humidity above 65
sure. For these reasons, coffee beans and that might have been very expensive and dif- per cent relative humidity (rh) inside the flexi-
cocoa beans, shipped in unprotected stan- ficult to replace, especially because of the ble hermetic containers, which is why they
dard shipping containers often arrive in poor shortage of coffee in that particular period. thrive in humid climates, but are unable to
condition compared to when left the country The results were excellent." grow in a low oxygen modified atmosphere.
Oxygen concentration inside a GrainPro cocoon providing hermetic storage of cocoa beans
Quality maintained
"In the case of coffee, however, in part due to
A
B
low insect infestation levels, oxygen levels do
C
not decrease significantly," Mr Villers
explained. "Moisture content remains essen-
tially constant, but cocoa bean volatiles stay
trapped in the container. Moulds are prevent-
ed from growing, and the aroma, flavour and
appearance of the beans is preserved for a
period of up to a year."
The use of hermetic storage for coffee
beans is now practiced in some 12 countries
in Asia, Africa and the Americas, Mr Villers
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