Energy-Efficient Cold Storage for Fruit Farming

In agricultural production and fruit wholesaling, companies rely on energy-efficient cold storage and refrigeration technology solutions under controlled atmospheres to maximize the shelf life of fragile products while complying with strict power supply requirements.

Business and Operational Challenges
Based in the Western Cape of South Africa, Betko Fresh Produce farms 1,000 hectares of land and produces approximately 65,000 tons of apples and pears annually, comprising sixteen apple varieties and eight pear varieties. The products are distributed globally to markets in Africa, Asia, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. With the existing facility reaching its limits in terms of space and electrical capacity, a new independent complex had to be built in Sunnyside to accommodate the growing volume of fruit. The main challenge lay in the instability of the South African power grid, which did not allow for any increase in regular electricity consumption, as well as the need to store the fruit without spoilage over long periods.

Improvement Objectives
The project's main objectives included increasing fruit storage capacity, extending the maximum shelf life of seasonal fruit up to 14 months, and reducing peak electricity consumption by 20 percent despite the increased production volumes. Additionally, the goal was to maximize energy efficiency, improve space utilization through optimized container stacking, and ensure zero-loss cooling.

Selected Technical Solution
GEA was selected as the technology partner to build an integrated controlled atmosphere (CA) facility featuring 24 storage rooms. The main technical components selected include three GEA Grasso V series piston compressors, along with an identical fourth standby unit, regulated by frequency converters between 500 and 1,500 revolutions per minute to adapt to demand. The system utilizes high-pressure liquid subcooling as well as the intelligent software solution Adaptive Suction Set Point Control, which recalculates the optimal operating point for each individual room every 60 seconds. To optimize space over a floor area of 5,000 square meters, the building envelope was designed so that containers can be stacked eleven high instead of the industry-standard ten, complemented by a specially insulated floor construction for the CA warehouse.

Implementation and Support
The project was carried out as part of a long-standing partnership between Betko and GEA, with construction work beginning in March 2024. Commissioning was successfully completed on February 17, 2025, when the first fruit was introduced into the CA storage facility. The entire plant realization took less than a year, allowing Betko to seamlessly benefit from the local support and global experience of the equipment supplier.




Measurable Results
The modernized facility exceeded its initial design capacity in its very first season, with over 37,000 bins processed. Thanks to the optimized refrigeration technology and building design, peak electricity demand was reduced by 20 percent, allowing Betko to increase production without drawing additional power from the grid. The fruit's shelf life was successfully extended up to 14 months, offering the company greater flexibility for global marketing and enabling it to extract fruit of perfect quality from its warehouses in September 2025.

Edited by Maria Brueva, editor for Induportals – adapted by AI.

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