Betko Fresh Produce Pty (Ltd), a South African producer of apples and pears that also operates packing facilities, has expanded its cold storage capabilities with a new GEA-equipped controlled-atmosphere facility. The upgrade extends fruit storage to up to 14 months and enables Betko to process approximately 50,000 additional fruit bins annually.
Already in the first season, more than 37,000 bins were processed through the facility, exceeding the original design capacity. As a result of the facility’s energy-optimized building and refrigeration design, peak power demand is reduced by 20%. The new facility, featuring 24 controlled-atmosphere chambers, combines an energy-optimized building design with GEA’s “Adaptive Suction Set Point Control”, which recalculates the optimal operating point for each individual chamber every 60 seconds. The project is the latest chapter in a partnership that has run continuously since 1992.
Betko is one of South Africa’s leading producers of apples and pears, operating farms and packing facilities in the Western Cape. The company farms 1,000 hectares in the Western Cape and supplies approximately 65,000 metric tons of fruit annually to markets across Africa, Asia, the European Union and the United Kingdom. The company handles 16 apple and 8 pear varieties, distributing a third of its volume to each of its three main market regions.
