CHICAGO, IL - Hazel Technologies is continuing its mission of bringing only the best quality fruit to the produce department. Recently, the solutions provider announced a new partnership with Valicoff Fruit Company, one of Washington State’s largest suppliers of apples and stonefruit, in which the grower will utilize Hazel’s innovations to boost quality across its portfolio.

“We are proud to support Valicoff Fruit’s dynamic growth and to protect their fruit across multiple categories,” commented Aidan Mouat, Chief Executive Officer of Hazel Technologies. “Hazel is committed to listening to our customers’ goals and challenges and developing academically proven solutions that address the customers’ needs while easily integrating across the supply chain.”

The Wapata, Washington-based supplier is a family-owned business and is part of the Sage Fruit marketing group, priding itself on offering premium quality and variety across its apple, pear, peach, nectarine, apricot, and cherry programs.

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Following a century of farming, Valicoff Fruit now grows over 2,000 acres of fruit and ships to major retailers and other customers in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, as explained in a press release. In 2020, the grower incorporated Hazel 100™ bin sachets to protect the quality of its offerings, which help ease logistics and lower labor costs.

“We utilized Hazel 100™ bin sachets for treatment of our 2020 crop Honeycrisp Apples,” said Brett Valicoff, fourth generation grower and President of Valicoff Fruit Company. “We experienced great quality of fruit coming out of storage and noticed a reduction of internal browning from long-term storage. Hazel’s bin sachet application allowed us to protect the fruit immediately, which simplified receiving and storage logistics. This immediate treatment allowed us to get the right fruit in the right storage timeframe. We were able to eliminate transferring of bins from conditioning rooms which greatly improved the process. This simplified process helped to produce excellent fruit condition for our customers.”

In addition to its success in the apple category, Valicoff has also successfully expanded to be one of the largest suppliers of stonefruit in the Pacific Northwest, according to the release. After repeated quality improvement in its trials of the solution, Valicoff expanded its usage of the Hazel 100 box sachets for two consecutive seasons. As a result of the partnership, the provider harnesses Hazel Tech’s apricot solutions help to maintain color and firmness, prevent chilling injuries, and ensure high quality during long-distance transit.

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