Miatech

Artic Air are pleased to announce that they have been awarded the sole distributors for Miatech products in Ireland.

Miatech manufacture perishable control equipment for a variety of applications. These range from misting systems for produce cases and fish ice tables to humidification equipment for meat, fish, poultry and deli service cases. Our post harvest equipment humidifies small rooms to large warehouse facilities. This is done for all kinds of fresh produce storage and a range of other products that benefit from the extended life and quality maintained through controlled humidity or reduced ethylene. Even cut floral represents a perishable that will benefit.

Their entire line of products is designed to improve the retailer, distributor and producer\’s bottom line by increased profits. This is accomplished by preventing waste, improving appearance and quality that will result in increased sales.

Miatech’s post harvest equipment humidifies small rooms to large warehouse facilities.

This is done for all kinds of fresh produce storage and a range of other products that benefit from the extended life and quality maintained through controlled humidity. Miatech also has a range of humidification equipment for meat, fish, poultry and deli service cases.

Service Case & Ice Table Humidification

Miatech Service case and Ice table Humidification systems are designed to solve challenges you might have with product dehydration, weight loss and waste. With Miatech products we guarantee results:

• More than double the shelf life of your merchandise
• Cut your products weight loss by at least 50%
• Improve your merchandise appearance

Other features:

• Includes RO water filtration
• Low maintenance cost
• Easy and friendly to service
• High return on investment
• Invisible to the customer

Warehouse & Cold Room Humidification

Miatech Warehouse & Cold Room Humidification systems are solutions for product dehydration, weight loss and waste. With Miatech products, we guarantee results:

• Lengthens freshness of product
• Cut your product weight loss by at least 50%
• Improves your merchandise appearance
• Increase humidity up to 95%
• High return in investment
• It\’s a standard for quality storage
• Preserves your products integrity

Other features:

• RO water filtration included
• Low maintenance design
• Easy and friendly to service
• Includes humidistat control digital display and sensor
• NSF approved fog nozzles

Miatech Produce Misting Systems are solutions for produce dehydration, affecting its appeal, quality, and freshness. It pays you back with a reduction in weight loss and waste. With Miatech products we guarantee results:

• Doubles the self life of your produce
• Cuts your produce waste by 50%
• Stops your weight loss
• Helps produce retain greater vitamin content
• Improves the fresh look of your produce
• Fast return on your investment

Mist Bar

Other features:

• Mist tips turn off/on
• No dripping. Instant on/off
• RO Water filtration (optional)
• Low maintenance cost
• Easy and friendly to service
• Fine mist that is friendly to the customers
• Near invisible look
• Patented bacteria resistant mistbar

Why Choose a Miatech Misting System?

Criteria in choosing misting systems

Performance Mist Coverage
A misting system should provide full coverage of produce. Losses due to lack of coverage commonly approach $100.00 a day, depending on the size of the produce department and the amount of wet side produce for sale. Much of these losses occur overnight. Even a slight difference in performance from a misting system can easily cost an additional $20.00 a day in losses from weight and spoilage (shrink). This may not seem like much in the big picture, but over the typical ten-year life of a quality misting system, the savings can be significant. Twenty dollars a day times 365 days a year times 10 years is $73,000. This is a huge expense compared to any potential savings on a less expensive misting system. Therefore, the price of the misting system is very secondary to its performance. Miatech provides excellent misting coverage of produce that is the envy of our industry.

Appearance
Ideally, the shopping customers should not see misters. They add no aesthetic value to the produce department (regardless of how proud we are at Miatech of our produce\’s appearance!) The lowest possible profile system is desired to minimize the interference that a misting system may create for merchandisers. There is no lower profile misting system than Miatech\’s.

Friendly to Store Customers
Miatech uses the finest/lightest mist applicable for produce misting. Options such as warning chimes and thunder and lightening systems. (available from Miatech) are no longer essential. When the mister comes on the mist is so friendly that customers do not attempt to remove their hands and arms from the misted area. Instead, it works much more like a people mister commonly used in the outside seating areas of restaurants in places like Arizona. Miatech is unequaled in this area of its performance.

Bacteria Control
Miatech\’s patented mist bar design is second to none in bacteria control. Unsightly bacteria growth from produce nozzles is simply unacceptable. Miatech\’s entire system is designed to maximize bacteria control without extensive maintenance costs.

Non-directional Nozzles (tips)
The initial question often asked is how could it be beneficial to lose the ability to adjust each nozzle. Upon further evaluation, it is realized that once properly installed for maximum product coverage, adjustability is unacceptable. Further adjustment results only in water on the mirrors, case fronts and the floor (liability). There is no advantage to adjustable nozzles, only disadvantages such as non-store personnel making inappropriate adjustments. Once the installer maximizes product coverage, it should be kept that way. This design has proven so effective that the production of adjustable nozzles has been discontinued. Miatech holds the patent on non-directional nozzles for use in conjunction with produce misting.

Ease of Use By Department
Miatech systems are simple and easy for produce personnel to work with. Miatech tips are placed every 9-inches (typical systems are 18-inches) to provide maximum flexibility for merchandisers in adjusting sets of produce. Often, dry produce and wet side produce are merchandised together, creating the need to turn tips on and off for various sections of produce. To prevent non-store personnel from turning individual tips off and on, Miatech provides a common tool that employees can use to turn tips off and on. Also, employees can easily replace tips themselves, when required. Some systems require a plug to turn off individual tips.

Maintenance Cost
Other than filtration, approximately 90% of all emergency services are associated with adjustable nozzles and tips. Additionally, most maintenance costs are due to bacteria control challenges and system cleaning. Because of the superior design of our systems, Miatech has vastly reduced the need for such maintenance and emergency service calls.

Water Filtration
Miatech strongly recommends reverse osmosis water filtration in conjunction with misting equipment. Reverse osmosis filtration not only benefits the produce, but also eliminates or minimizes water damage to case fronts and mirrors. For this reason, many stores have been tying into reverse osmosis (RO) water machine kiosk for source water. In most cases, there is a small charge per gallon of water used. Miatech is a manufacturer of RO products and not a reseller. We manufacture RO products specifically designed for the grocery store industry. In most cases Miatech offers a more economical solution than drawing water from the water machine.

ETHYLENE REMOVAL & AIRBORNE PATHOGEN KILLER (BIO-TURBO)

Bio Turbo is an ethylene gas removal and airborne pathogen killing system. This new patent pending technology is the only 4 stage system available today.

• User friendly and low maintenance
• Removes Ethylene harmful to produce and floral
• Eliminates 99.9% of bacteria and airborne pathogens harmful to your perishables
• Provides an overall better environment
• Causes produce to have a better appearance and freshness longer
• Reduces perishables shrink by about 25%
• Will provide a return on your investment

Ethylene Gas – The Silent Killer of Produce & Flowers

Taking perishable products, whether fruits, vegetables or fresh cut flowers, from the field safely to the home of the consumer is tricky business. Post-harvest handlers must do everything they can to maintain the best possible environmental conditions for those delicate parcels.

When considering the control of environmental conditions, never overlook the power of ethylene gas – Mother Nature\’s silent killer.

What is Ethylene Gas?

Ethylene gas (C2H4) is a natural growth hormone that is produced by plant tissue as well as the combustion of synthetic materials. It is the only member of its class and has the simplest structure of all plant growth substances.

Its impact on the post-harvest industry is tremendous because it is active at very low concentrations and effects plants in so many different ways. Ethylene is involved in a plant\’s growth process from seed germination to its eventual death. Unlike most plant hormone compounds, ethylene is a gaseous hormone. Even moderately high concentrations of the gas cannot be seen or smelled, making it impossible to detect without mechanical measuring devices. Ethylene is not harmful or toxic to humans, however, at extremely high concentrations it is combustible.

Natural law is a powerful force. Ethylene gas has a job to do which cannot be reversed, no matter how hard one tries. That job is to help a plant through the natural process of growth and dying. That\’s a good thing when the plant is growing in the earth – death and decay of all plants is necessary for healthy ecosystems. But death and decay of perishables in post-harvest storage areas means loss of viable product and a large amount of money.

What Does Ethylene Gas Do?

Some of the most detrimental effects of ethylene are abscission of leaves and flower petals of fresh cut flowers, hasted senescence (aging) of all types of plants and accelerated ripening of fruits and vegetables.

Abscission is the separation of an organ or plant part from the parent plant. Ethylene is a stimulant for abscission and is particularly harmful to the floral industry. Fresh cut flowers that are exposed to ethylene gas will lose their leaves and petals faster than those that are stored in ethylene-free environment. Not only does this hurt flower sales by giving the flowers an undesirable appearance, but scars left from abscission of leaves and petals make the plants more susceptible to disease.

Senescence is the last phase of plant and extends from full maturity to death. Generally speaking, it is the slowing down and eventual end of a plant\’s metabolism, which characterizes it as a living thing. The result is discoloration, unpleasant odors, shrinkage and the general rotting of produce and flowers. Ethylene is one of the hormones that naturally brings about this last phase of a plant\’s life. When fruits, vegetables and flowers are stored in enclosed areas, and the ethylene levels build up, plants senesce, or age, at an unusually fast pace. In practical terms, the post harvest “life” of the product is cut short and it must be discarded as waste.

Ripening is the phase of a plant just before senescence. It is the time period in which the fruit of the plant changes color and develops the flavor, texture and aroma that makes it best suitable for consumption. The effects of ethylene on ripening must be given particular attention.

On one hand, ripening is important to the sale of produce. Consumers want to purchase food they can eat and not have to wait for it to ripen. But on the other hand, once the ripening process begins it cannot be reversed or stopped, only slowed. So the quicker the produce ripens after it is harvested, the less time there is to get it to the consumer and the greater the chance of it moving on to the senescence phase and rotting.

In a natural setting, when a plant is growing in the earth, the ripening process is triggered when the internal ethylene concentration of a plant\’s fruit is 0.1-1 ppm. However, plants can\’t distinguish between internal and external sources. Any external ethylene gas that the produce is exposed to will speed up the ripening. To keep produce from ripening too quickly, as much ethylene as possible should be removed from the surrounding air. Most wounded plants give off ethylene gas. The gas evolves naturally from plant material that is rotting, ageing or ripening. Since a harvested plant is a wounded plant, that means most perishable storage areas are virtual ethylene factories.

But plants are not the only producers of ethylene. It is produced when almost any material is incompletely combusted or burned. Some common external sources are trash burning, fluorescent lights, cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes. It also comes from certain fungi, like botrytis, and other micro-organisms. Pure automobile exhaust contains about 400 ppm of ethylene. So opening doors to vent out ethylene in urban, air-polluted areas could actually let high concentrations back into the storage area. Plants respond to external ethylene by producing more themselves, a process called autocatalytic ethylene production. Just a small amount of the gas, when added to a produce or floral storage area, can result in very high levels.

Cleaning as much ethylene out of the air as possible is the best way to cut down on premature ageing and ripening and prolong the post-harvest of life of fruits, vegetables and flowers.

The following flowers have been determined to be particularly sensitive to ethylene gas.