For the second successive year, Citrosol has actively participated in a series of round table conferences on technology servicing the agri-food sector, organized by the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, held at the Cubo Azul at the Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación. A comprehensive program in which the challenges of the different links in the chain from production through marketing to distribution have been broken down and where post-harvest plays a fundamental role. Benito Orihuel, Citrosol’s CEO, shared with those present a circular economy paradigm advocated by Citrosol which combines business success with the sustainability of the model.
“All our developments have saved water and energy in the packinghouses where they have been implemented. In this way, we are contributing to reducing the carbon footprint of our clients and the excessive consumption of a resource as limited and scarce as water ”, explained Benito Orihuel.
The path of ‘green’ innovation saw its pivotal moment with the launch of Citrosol Vertido Cero® almost a decade ago – technology capable of safely reusing treatment solutions – becoming the first application technology for Phytosanitary treatments to embrace the Circular Economy. The Vertido Cero® defined the route that Citrosol was to follow over the last ten years in the development of our new products and services and the one that has promoted the company’s 150% growth in the last decade.
“That growth is the affirmation that the three pillars of sustainability, people, the planet and economic growth, are not simply compatible but are also synergetic,” Orihuel stressed.
The message affirms that the development of a company is possible and needs to be in accordance with criteria of sustainability and efficiency, generating all kinds of positive synergies, featured highly in Benito Orihuel’s role at the round table entitled ‘Innovation and sustainability in agri-food production’. Citrosol’s representative shared the table with the Kiwa director, Juan Cardona, Luis Vera, head of institutional relations for Idai Nature and with Francisco Andrés, in charge of the Continuous Improvement of the Fresh Cut Business division of the “Citrus” food group. The Table was moderated by Carlos Blanco, a Bankia financial assessor.
Laboratory Results in the Real World without gaps
Another aspect outlined by Benito Orihuel was the effort made by Citrosol in recent years to be able, with the use of digital technologies, to reduce industrial variabilities, improving homogeneity and thus closing the gap between laboratory and real-world treatment results.
In this way, Citrosol has managed to reduce the percentage of losses in the export of citrus fruit by between 90% and 99%. Benito Orihuel cited the example of long-distance citrus shipments with losses, due to both decay and physiological disorders, in the order of 5-10%. With the solutions and improvements provided by Citrosol’s products, these losses have been reduced to between 0.1-0.5%.
“This is how we contribute to sustainability: by mitigating the losses in fresh fruit and vegetables,” Orihuel stressed.
In its day, the launch Citrosol’s Vertido Cero® was revolutionary in the understanding of post-harvest processes due to the savings which it afforded the user in fundamental resources such as water and fungicides. Since then Citrosol has developed a catalog of green economy solutions that respond to both the demand for more sustainability and to greater effectiveness and higher efficiency. At the Valencia Polytechnic University, our CEO, Benito Orihuel, explained how our vision is a win-win for both companies and the environment.
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