IQF Freezer Helps Berry Processor Achieve Long Run Times During Harvest Season
In 2013, Willamette Valley Fruit Co., Willamette Valley, Ore., made the decision to increase its individually-quick frozen (IQF) processes. That’s when the packaged and bulk produce supplier, owned by Inventure Foods, Phoenix, Ariz., selected the OctoFrost, a compact, high-performance IQF freezer that supports modern green thinking.
“For us it was an easy choice,” says Scott Dunn, operations manager for Willamette Valley Fruit. “We do not have the luxury of a huge processing facility with lots of extra square footage for equipment. The footprint of the OctoFrost was much smaller than other freeze tunnels with the same throughput capacity. So, it just fit best. In addition to that, we were drawn to the idea that we could control fan speed and bedplate agitation, which would give us an advantage in freezing fragile fruit.”