Fresh Herb Packing Plant Design in Georgia

Located in the Caucuses, the country of Georgia has long been a major food supplier to a great deal of the old Soviet Union. Its large amount of arable land and generally moderate climate due to its proximity to the Black Sea have made it an important producer of many specialty products, and among these is fresh herbs.
        
Traditionally, all of the herb production was shipped to the huge marketplace found in Russia. But the recent political difficulties have closed the border with Russia, and Georgia must now look to other markets, and these markets will require more sophisticated levels of packing and distribution. In an effort to assist the fresh herb industry of Georgia, Novelle principal Henry Winogrond and postharvest expert, Dr. Marita Cantwell of the U. of California in Davis, were asked to design modern fresh herb packing facilities, and then to return to Georgia after the construction  of the facilities to inaugurate their operations.
        
Mr. Winogrond and Dr. Cantwell first visited the growing areas of Georgia, all located near the Black Sea town of Kutaisi. They found there that 70% of the herb volume was in fresh dill, with the balance in parsley and cilantro. All of the necessary information required for packing plant design was then gathered, including incoming average and peak volumes, incoming field temperatures, labor efficiency, and construction costs. The final designs were then turned over to the USAID team working in Georgia.
        
Three local investor groups were selected, and within 90 days, all of the packing plants were constructed according to the designs created by the design team. Dr. Cantwell and Mr. Winogrond then returned to Georgia, and spent a few weeks there working with the new owners, helping to train the workers in the new methods of packing and packaging, and calibrating the precooling equipment.

It is anticipated that further work will be done with this project, including visits to the marketplaces in Ukraine and Poland, to observe the behavior of the product after shipping. In addition, a trip is planned for the team to take the Georgian growers on a tour of California fresh herb packing facilities, to show them what fresh herb modern packing looks like.

Read more about Henry Winogrond