Calavo adopts PakSense temperature monitoring labels

PakSense has announced that Calavo Growers, specialist in packaging and marketing fresh and processed avocados and other perishable food products, has adopted the company’s TXi label to track time and temperature of all products during shipping.

PakSense labels will be used on all avocado shipments as well as shipments of fresh and frozen guacamole and other diversified product lines such as papayas. Use of the PakSense Labels, combined with Calavo’s ProRipeVIP acoustic firmness technology and other quality assurance programs, will ensure that Calavo customers ‘consistently receive the highest quality products possible’, according to a statement.

Calavo’s ProRipeVIP acoustic sensor technology uses sound waves to measure the firmness and weight of avocados and enables Calavo to accurately sort fruit according to degree of ripeness and size. This enables Calavo to offer consistent products to its customers. Now, PakSense time and temperature labels will be used during shipping to help ensure the cold chain is maintained all the way to the customer, essentially extending quality assurance into distribution channels and completing the quality control loop.

‘PakSense Labels help verify that temperature anomalies during shipping do not compromise the integrity of our product and are our eyes and ears when our product is outside of our direct control,’ said Lee Cole, chairman of the board, president & CEO at Calavo. ‘This is another element in our quality control system and cold chain management that will make sure customers receive from Calavo the most wholesome and highest quality fresh & frozen products in the world.’

‘We adopted the PakSense Labels because of their ease of use and the fact that the data is secure from any editing,’ added Cole. ‘We were especially impressed that the PakSense label embeds a perpetual clock rendering temperature data every minute, versus other solutions that sample temperature every seven to eight minutes. This gives us incredibly detailed data that is digitally portable and secured through chip encryption.’

PakSense labels, which are encased in food-grade packaging, are small enough to be placed inside Calavo containers where they collect surface temperature of product versus general ambient temperature information. An added benefit is that PakSense labels will not bruise or otherwise damage fruit like larger data recorders.

Calavo is the latest company to adopt the award-winning PakSense TXi Label. Albertson’s LLC recently announced that PakSense temperature monitoring labels would be included on all produce, fresh meat, and seafood shipments.