Harvesting

• We avoid fruit harvest in rainy conditions to prevent postharvest disorders.
• All harvest equipment is inspected daily for mechanical efficiency, safety and cleanliness.
• We never allow harvested fruit to come into contact with the orchard soil.
• Harvest bins are cleaned regularly.
• Overfilling bins is avoided to prevent physical deterioration of the fruit and/or damage to the pulp.
• All harvested fruit is kept out of direct sunlight to prevent sunburn.

Initial fruit reception at the packinghouse

• All fruit must undergo an initial inspection upon arrival at the packinghouse for general physical condition and maturity. FDI personnel must adhere to strict guidelines when inspecting each lot upon arrival.
• Lot numbers are immediately assigned to all arriving fruit to facilitate tracking from field to store.

Fruit sorting and grading

• All fruit is graded according to the standards set by each market in which the fruit is sold. Inspectors must adhere to strict specifications as defined by mechanical damage, insect damage, disease, defects, sunburn, fruit shape and color, and the presence of any foreign materials.

Packing

• Packing line personnel continue to monitor fruit for compliance with appearance, color, shape and size uniformity, absence of damage, consistency in container weights, and consistency in individual fruit weight as specified by FDI guidelines.
• Critical information (lot number, date packed, orchard registration number, packinghouse registration number) is documented for each FDI package to facilitate tracking.

Palletization

• Pallets are inspected regularly for general physical condition.
• Critical information for each pallet is identified and documented including pallet number, lot number, weight and destination.

Pre-cooling

• FDI personnel follow strict guidelines for implementing our entire conditioning operation. We pre-cool our fruit using forced-air systems. Temperatures are adjusted according to the level of maturity. And we closely monitor pulp temperatures, room temperature, relative humidity and cooling rates as well.

Transportation

• Our quality assurance team carefully inspects every FDI truck and container for cleanliness, absence of odors, physical condition of the truck or container floor, walls and ceiling, hermetic sealing, and anchoring.
• Our truck refrigeration systems are regularly inspected for function verification.

Documentation

• FDI quality assurance personnel verify all fruit documentation, from initial arrival to the packinghouse to post-transportation.

For more information about our quality assurance practices, contact sales@freshdirections.com.