Hello new friends,
I am reaching out to anyone that can propose a Fresh Frozen protocol, and call out the pros and cons.
2 Likes
Are you looking to have your current protocols critiqued, or have someone propose a set?
2 Likes
Both actually, The Green Living Company was recently contacted by a grower that asked this
“We need to cool around 12 pallets at a time but we are interested in a multiple room system that will allow for more consistent work flow since pallets leave the field once every 10 minutes. Each pallet contains around 200 lbs of fresh harvested flower to be cooled and quickly as possible without damage. We will need to cool 50 to 60 tons of flower per year.”
I am working with our engineer to build a system for Fresh Freezing Flower, we currently Fresh Freeze Botanical flowers and we believe our system will do the job.I attended the CannaGrow Expo in Palm Springs and the people there seem to think so too. With that being said, I need to find out what the current methods used are so we can offer a more efficient and cost-effective way.
3 Likes
There are a lot of things to consider.
Depending on location and regulation, farmers may be required to chop and log whole plant weights. Others are able to buck the flowers on site and move them into standardized flats or containers in the field.
Then there is efficient use of airflow and surface area. Cooling your client’s 200 lb pallets consistently could require a lot more time and energy than cooling ten 20 lb boxes.
The first thing I would establish is: what is the end goal? Do you want to cool the fastest? Most energy efficiently? Do want to preserve the greatest amount of terpenes and cannabanoids? Do you want to make product shelf-stable faster and able to be held in inventory longer?
Once you’ve got a goal you can decide what an indicator of success looks like for that goal and begin to run your tests. Some tests, like speed or efficiency, may be able to be run and evaluated by your in-house engineer. Others may require partnering with an analytical lab.
Which ever approach you take, this is going to be a large undertaking, but an exciting one.
2 Likes
Thank you for the response, the end goal for him was -20. We have a mobile system that can bring the flower from the ambient temp to -20 , 750lb in 45 min. We definitely want to preserve the greatest amount of terpenes and cannabinoids. I am currently looking to partner with a grower for product and analytical lab that would do the testing. I would greatly appreciate any direction you may have. We are brand new to the industry and are very excited to learn all we can.
3 Likes
I’ll be upfront and say that I also have no experience in the fresh-frozen market, so I’m speaking only from a problem-solving perspective.
Is your target demographic growers who need 750 lbs handled in 45 minutes, or in the realm of up to and beyond 60 tons per year? If so, I have a tough time believing that those quantities will be bought or sold for a price above commodity value to extractors. Preserving terpenes and cannabanoids would be an awesome niche to target, but I don’t know if transactions at those volumes place a lot of value on those qualities. That would be an important question to answer.
More valuable at that scale may be a technology that could process and batch 200 lbs every ten minutes, as your client above stated, and have it storage ready. Batches could be held by the farmer in on site freezers, since you handled the field processing and made them shelf-stable, until they are ready to make a bulk sale.
The cultivators you work with will depend on the market segment you are focused on.
In regards to labs, I’m not sure what the availability or popularity of crop analytics is in your location, but in Canada there are a number who are transitioning to cannabis and want to validate their testing methods. Labs like that may be willing to develop a relationship with you and your cultivator that could be beneficial for everyone.
3 Likes