Non-Renewal of CIPC Opens Doors for Sprout Suppression Alternatives
The non-renewal of CIPC in the European market has left a huge gap in the potato storage spout suppression market, so growers have already started looking for alternatives for their potato crops. One option comes from, Restrain, the residue-free, ethylene gas company.
Being aware of the potential for CIPC’s non-renewal, Restrain made significant investments in the business, enabling the company to increase its manufacturing capacity at its production facility in the Netherlands and therefore ensuring it has the capacity needed to fill the gap left by CIPC.
Restrain’s generators have been used for potato storage for over 14 years and are fitted with sensors which maintain a stable, low-level of ethylene, which is vital for the safe storage of potatoes. The generator has 20 liter fuel capacity, so daily filling is not required unlike other catalytic generators and Restrain generators use a unique start-up mechanism that ensures the best possible outcome when storing potatoes.
“Through our determination to create a world-class product we completely re-designed our machines, taking the manufacturing in house to improve machine quality and investing heavily in the development of our sensor technology. This means our new B100 and B200 generators require limited annual maintenance and are fully calibrated before leaving our site, making them ready to use straight away,” said Dirk Garos, global sales director at Restrain.
Following a series of a successful variety of trails, Restrain technology has recently been adopted by the global potato processing sector. The sector, which has traditionally used CIPC and other storage chemicals, has seen a global trend towards more sustainable, chemical-free solutions, so Restrain meets these requirements and just at the right time.
“Seeing that the processing sector might need alternative solutions to CIPC, we invested in multiple processing variety trails to ensure that we have robust data for processing customers. Our results show that fry colors are preserved, there is no need for a delay between storage and processing and the potatoes are completely residue-free,” explained Garos.
Most importantly, Restrain is priced in line with CIPC, making it one of the most cost-effective alternatives available. In addition to this, customers do not need to pay for the machines themselves, which are supplied free of charge, with customers only paying a fee on a per tons basis for the crops they are storing.
