Ti-Vi Mel Ltd Production Process
Production Process
- Production process starts with the cherry harvest. Each cherry is hand-picked by tree and that is done only by experienced professionals in that field.
- The second step is preparing the fruits for the end market. That includes passing the cherries through a hydrocooler. cherries are shock-cooled with a hydrocooler up to 1-3 degrees in order to stop all fermentation The model we use is INOKAT – Model t2500, which uses cold water to keep fresh fruit and vegetables in top quality, is distinguished for the economy in water and power consumption it offers. It is constructed of AISI 316L quality stainless steel, to provide low maintenance costs, excellent sanitization, and longer service life. It can be adapted to all operational needs without any loss to efficiency and guaranteed product quality.
- Right after passing the hydrocooler operations, the cherries are fed into the machine for sorting, calibration, and packaging. The machine we use is top quality of the Italian brand – Unitec S.p.A, model – Cherry Vision. UNITEC is an Italian company that designs and manufactures fruit and vegetable processing lines, specializing in innovative optical scanning systems. TNT Srl (Tomorrow New Technology) is the first company in Europe to implement camera systems for fruit size and colour selection. The machine is operated only by professionally trained operators. This is of utmost importance for the correct and optimal functioning of the entire work process.
- After being sorted, calibrated, and bagged, the cherries are instantly put into our cold rooms where they are stored at a temperature of 1 to 3 degrees Celsius until the time of your expedition. Maximum amount of cherries that can fit in one refrigerated trailer is 33 euro pallets or 17160 kg (net) 18840kg (gross).The time to store cherries from harvesting to the end user is a maximum of 14 days.
- Sample sale scheme – option maximum time for transport (2 days picking and cooling, 5 to 7 days transport, 2 days from wholesale to retailer and 2-3 days for retail).
- The price for the cherries depends on the calibre and packaging of the produce. The most used product sorting calibres are: 26-28mm, 28-30mm, 30-32mm and over 32mm. Maybe the calibre “26+”, which is widely practiced in less sophisticated markets. The packages can be wooden, cardboard, and for smaller cuts and plastic. Wood and cardboard are used mainly for cuts of 5 kg or 2 kg. Plastic is used for the clients with special needs – usually 0.5 kg. We can do smaller upon customer’s request. The packages are subject to prior contractual terms because they require their order at least 1-2 months in advance. Transporting chilled cherries with passenger airlines carries the risk fruit spoilage during the flight, since the desired temperature (2-4 degrees) is not maintained in the luggage compartment. The other disadvantage is that very small quantities can be transported with one flight, which makes logistics very expensive and complicated. We are exploring the possibility of transporting cherries from Bulgaria to further destinations with specialized Cargo. In this type of transport large quantities (35 tons) will be able to be transported and the cost of transport is cheaper. Thus, we will make larger shipments in the coming years, which will be produced by our company.
