CHICAGO, IL - A strategic partnership is coming to a head as Hazel Technologies announces the expansion of its services. The solutions provider is continuing its partnership with Ricker Hill Orchards, implementing Hazel 100™ bin packets across the entire operation.

“The Hazel team is proud to work with an operation as historic and innovative as Ricker Hill and so happy to see how much our product can simplify a complex operation so quickly,” Hazel Account Executive Joe Parker said.

As a pilot user of 1-MCP fumigation technology, Owner Harry Ricker and his team have faced significant challenges while deploying the method. With 20 orchards across three counties, simultaneously sorting, treating, and storing by variety can take up to a week to fill the nine-plus CA rooms.

According to a press release, the game-changing solution arrived when Ricker discovered Hazel and its Hazel 100 bin packet. By dropping the slow-release 1-MCP packet into each bin as it came off the truck, the need for repetitively sealing and resealing rooms, along with the ensuing cleanup, was no longer necessary.

After implementing Hazel across all its farms, Ricker Hill Orchards reported substantial improvement in post-harvest operational efficiency, crop quality, and consistency. The new method has also invigorated the team by setting a less hectic pace, the release noted.

“I was first interested in Hazel Technologies because my now three-year-old granddaughter is also named Hazel—there aren’t a lot of Hazels out there. Then, after actually using the product for a couple of seasons, I’ve found Hazel to be fail-proof—as far as I haven’t had any problems with bins being soft because they weren’t treated. It’s just easy,” said Ricker.

Cheers to this successful partnership!

Hazel Technologies