Smart pallet will ‘revolutionise fresh food transportation’

Tharsus engineering company says it has helped commercialise a unique smart pallet which it claims will revolutionise global fresh food transportation.
Biofresh, a Newcastle University spin-out business, approached Tharsus to improve and manufacture its smart pallet – a product that extends the storage life of perishable foodstuffs throughout the supply chain by using non-harmful ozone.
Biofresh asked Tharsus to develop a more robust, professional-looking product that was designed with easy manufacture and serviceability in mind. A more rugged design was required due to damage caused in transit in ports around the world, and the high costs of repairing the pallets.
Tharsus redesigned the pallet using modular construction principals so that they can be easily reconfigured and components can be quickly replaced if necessary. Plastic was also incorporated with the more traditional steel construction.
“Spoilage costs the food industry billions every year so to be able to improve a product that combats this problem on a worldwide scale, was a great project for our engineering team,” says Tharsus chief executive Brian Palmer. “We maintained the dimensions of the pallet so the product still fitted in physically with the current logistical journey, but subdivided the system into modules, to simplify the replacement of damaged parts; reducing the cost of ownership.”