Crofts Ltd.
Crofts Ltd. is a producer of extra virgin and crude avocado oils in Kenya. Avocados are difficult to manage due to the fact that they ripen at different rates, and have a very short window of perfect ripeness. Therefore, avocado oil quality can be affected by many factors too, such as quality of fruit, processing times and temperatures, as well as post-harvest handling and ripening procedures.
The main aim at Crofts has always been to produce the best quality avocado oil in the world. This could only be achieved by ensuring that you closely monitor every aspect of production from receiving of avocados to storage of produced oil.
The procedure prior to purchasing the CDR FoodLab®
Their procedure prior to purchasing the CDR FoodLab® unit was to produce the oil and store it. Then they sent samples of the oil from production as well as samples from the storage tanks to a local laboratory to check the quality testing the oil for Free Fatty Acids (FFA) & Peroxide Levels (PV). The issue with this was typically be the time taken to send samples to the lab, along with the laboratory’s turnaround time in sending the results back. It could easily take 6-10 days before they had the lab reports with the results. This also resulted in high costs of testing.
What happened when Crofts Ltd. purchased the CDR FoodLab®
In 2022, Crofts Ltd. purchased the CDR FoodLab®. CDR FoodLab® allowed them to test their oil for FFA and PV within the factory. Now they be able to know the quality of each batch in real time, allowing them
to separate qualities immediately.
In Crofts Ltd. they say:
“The CDR FoodLab® is extremely easy to use, and staff don’t need a qualification to test the oil. A simple, quick training lesson was provided to key staff.”
“This significantly reduced the cost of testing, and above all, reduced the turnaround time of testing and received results down to 10 mins from taking samples!”
“The FoodLab was one of the best investments we have made in our avocado oil business. It improved our business, helped in improving efficiency in our process and has allowed us to maintain our quality and consistency. It’s a great piece of kit and worth every penny!”
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