16 August 2022
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Dutch company attributes product longevity and reduced water use to purification.
DUTCH company Greydanus Aardappelgroothandel has been supplying a wide range of potatoes to supermarkets throughout Europe for more than 80 years.
For the past 10 years, the company has been using a complete water purifying system for washing potatoes using purified water, which it attributes to its present day success in giving the potatoes a longer shelf life, as well as cutting down its water usage.
Before the products are packaged, they are washed using a water purification system from VAM WaterTech which purifies process water and reuses almost all of it.
Joint CEO Klaas Greydanus said: "We initially had a different system with settling tanks. We pumped the sludge out once every few weeks. We've had this VAM WaterTech complete water purification system since 2012. That has saved us a considerable amount of water and provides a cleaner, nicer, more sustainable end product."
The system forms an integral part of the potato wholesaler's washing line. First the water runs through a sieve drum which removes coarse particles like twigs and leaves. It then flows to a cyclone which filters out the sand, before the lamella separator separates the water and sludge.
Additives mean any germs stick to these smaller particles, which are then removed. From the clean-water tank, the purified water then flows back to the washing line for reuse.
"We drain and collect the sludge and it goes to a nearby livestock farm. So it's a completely closed system," said Klaas.
He said the washed potatoes' quality and storability have vastly improved since the purification system was introduced. "When you open a bag of potatoes, you sometimes smell an unpleasant odor. That doesn't happen with potatoes washed in purified water. There's no chance of cross-contamination, and you can entirely remove residues," he said.
He added that the germination load reduced from 90 to 10%, so the potatoes have a longer shelf life.
This year, he said the company's focus has been on making its production process more automated and sustainable.
Source: Fresh Plaza
