CHICAGO, IL – Hazel Technologies Inc., an innovation leader in agricultural shelf-life extension technologies, is delighted to announce its continued partnership with RickerHill Orchards, an eighth-generation, family-owned apple farm based in Turner, Maine. The partnership aims to boost Ricker Hill’s postharvest efficiency by streamlining operations through the implementation of Hazel 100 bin packets across the entire operation.
Driven by the family’s dedication to centuries of apple growing excellence and its witnessing of almost every disruptive agriculture technology since Jethro Tull’s Seed Drill, Harry Ricker, the present owner of Ricker Hill Orchards, deeply understands the importance of innovation in long-term success and makes its exploration his priority. Harry is closely tied to the agriculture research community and is considered an authority by his peers on new, promising products.
As a proud, pilot-user of 1-MCP fumigation technology, Ricker and his team have always loved the results of 1-MCP on their fruit but always faced significant challenges while deploying the fumigation method. The expansive geography of their 20 orchards across three counties and eight towns already made postharvest logistics and timing a challenge. When simultaneously sorting, treating and storing by variety from so many locations, it can take up to a week to fill their 9+ CA rooms. In order to protect the early bins from ethylene damage throughout the week, each room required numerous rounds of fumigation, sealing, waiting, and cleanup. The process of using traditional 1-MCP, every year, was extremely cumbersome and time-consuming.
The game-changing solution arrived when Harry discovered Hazel and its Hazel 100 bin packet. By merely dropping a slow-release 1-MCP packet into each bin as it came off the truck, the need for repetitively sealing and resealing rooms, along with the ensuing cleanup, became a thing of the past.
After implementing Hazel across all their farms, Ricker Hill Orchards reported substantial improvement in postharvest operational efficiency, crop quality and consistency. The new method has also invigorated the team by setting a less hectic pace.
“I was first interested in ‘Hazel Technologies,’ because my, now 3-year old granddaughter is also named Hazel – there aren’t a lot of Hazels out there. Then after actually using the product for a couple seasons, I’ve found Hazel to be failproof — as far as I haven’t had any problems with bins being soft because they weren’t treated. It’s just easy,” said Harry Ricker.
“The Hazel team is proud to work with an operation as historic and innovative as Ricker Hill and so happy to see how much our product can simplify a complex operation so quickly,” Hazel Account Executive, Joe Parker added.
About Hazel Technologies, Inc.:
Hazel Technologies is a leading provider of pioneering agricultural technologies designed to enhance operational efficiency and product quality.
