THE local Damianopoulos family are set to slash the water use by 80 percent on their produce farm thanks to $400,000 in funding provided through the Coles Nurture Fund program.
The funding will be used to introduce ground-breaking technology to the business’ cool rooms that will control the humidity.
After conducting extensive research in Italy, brothers, Con and Philip Damianopoulos identified Dynamic Controlled Atmosphere (DCA) cool room technology as the most effective way to preserve their apples and pears at the highest quality, while removing the need for high volume of plastic and water usage during the storing process.
Thanks to the funding they will be one of the first pear growers in Australia to purchase equipment, which will regulate the humidity of fruit and limit water use.
Philip said, “Consumers now expect the quality of their fruit to be 100 percent perfect, 100 percent of the time.
“They expect it to taste amazing and look good and they want this all year-round.
“This new technology will remove the impact of dehydration and ensure that the fruit comes out just as nice as the day we picked it.”
