How to run a fresh produce packhouse in 10 steps
A packhouse makes money on yield, speed and accuracy and loses it on shrink, rework and rejected loads. These ten controls decide which way the numbers go.
Key points
- Every bin, carton and pallet needs an ID and a location from the moment it arrives.
- Temperature and humidity are set per commodity, logged, and alarmed – not checked when someone remembers.
- FIFO and expiry must be enforced by the system at packing and picking, not by memory.
- Software that scans every movement turns the other nine steps into evidence for auditors and customers.
1. Inventory control and tracking
Record every incoming bin or pallet against a supplier, field or block, variety, weight and arrival time, and label it with a barcode before it goes into a cool room. Each later movement – into a room, onto a line, into a batch, onto a truck – is a scan. Stock counts then match reality, and nothing sits forgotten at the back of a room.
2. Temperature and humidity control
Shelf life drops quickly once produce leaves its target range. Most temperate produce stores best at 0–2 °C with 90–95 % relative humidity; leafy greens want 0 °C and 95–100 % RH; chilling-sensitive lines such as bananas (13–14 °C), tomatoes (10–13 °C) and cucumbers (10–12 °C) are damaged by those same settings. Separate rooms by requirement, log temperatures automatically and alarm on excursions.
3. Strict rotation: FIFO or FEFO
First-in, first-out (or first-expired, first-out for short-life lines) has to be enforced where decisions are made: at the packing line and at picking. If the system suggests the oldest suitable lot and warns when an operator scans a newer one, rotation stops depending on who is on shift.
4. Cleaning and maintenance schedules
Write down what gets cleaned, how often, with which sanitiser and by whom – including drains, drip trays under evaporators and overhead structures. Schedule preventive maintenance outside packing hours and keep the records; auditors ask for them.
5. Storage that suits the product
Racking, bulk storage, controlled-atmosphere rooms and ripening rooms each suit different lines and volumes. Plan for seasonal peaks: a layout that works for 200 t a week has to cope with 600 t at harvest without blocking fork routes or cool-room doors.
6. Food safety and workplace safety compliance
Packhouses sit under food safety schemes (GLOBALG.A.P., Freshcare, HARPS, BRCGS, SQF, FSMA in the US) and workplace safety law. Routine internal audits, documented corrective actions and up-to-date procedures are cheaper than a failed customer audit.
7. Training
Train staff on hygiene, handling, cool-room discipline and the scan steps they are responsible for. Keep training records with the date, content and person trained – export and retailer audits check them.
8. A system for overripe or damaged stock
Inspect stored product on a schedule, isolate defects immediately and redirect usable product to processing, juicing or lower-grade markets. A record of every downgrade shows where losses start.
9. Layout for flow and safety
Receiving, pre-cooling, packing, finished-goods storage and dispatch should flow in one direction, with pedestrians separated from forklifts. Short, uncrossed paths reduce handling damage and time out of the cold chain.
10. Run the packhouse on one system
Barcode scanning, a warehouse/packhouse management system and integration with your accounting package remove the paperwork that causes most errors. Producepak covers receiving, cool rooms, QC, packing, labels, picking, dispatch and invoicing, so each of the nine steps above leaves a timestamped record.
Frequently asked questions
What temperature should a packhouse cool room run at?
It depends on the commodity: most temperate fruit and vegetables 0–2 °C, leafy greens about 0 °C with 95–100 % RH, and chilling-sensitive lines such as bananas, tomatoes and cucumbers at 10–14 °C. Use separate rooms where requirements differ.
What records does a packhouse need for audits?
Receivals and dispatch records with traceability, cleaning and pest control logs, temperature records, staff training records and corrective actions. Export programs typically require at least two years of retention.
