CASS is an agricultural produce storage facility that seamlessly integrates smart warehouse systems with refrigeration and Controlled Atmosphere (CA) technology. This system regulates temperature, humidity, and gas composition (O2, N2, CO2, C2H4, etc.), thereby reducing respiration of the produce, inhibiting spoilage agents, and extending post-harvest storage duration while ensuring quality.

Within CASS facilities, vegetables, fruits, and fresh produce enter a dormant state immediately, minimizing respiration through CA technology. This allows precise adjustment of gas composition in the storage environment, notably reducing oxygen levels while increasing nitrogen to over 90%. As a result, each CASS warehouse functions like a colossal nitrogen chamber, effectively reducing respiration of fruits and vegetables and preventing heat generation within the produce mass.

Moreover, the automated stacking of pallets by robotic systems ensures uniform spacing, facilitating optimal airflow. Thousands of ventilation points equipped with fans maintain consistent airspeed throughout the facility, promoting rapid and even heat exchange.

With these integrated solutions, CASS achieves rapid cooling of agricultural produce without excessively lowering storage temperatures. This critical initial step in preservation significantly extends the shelf life of vegetables and fruits by slowing down ripening and aging processes, preserving quality without compromising product integrity.

The CA technology helps fruits and vegetables maintain freshness throughout storage, while also inhibiting microbial growth that causes spoilage and cross-contamination between batches. Agricultural products preserved in this environment can extend their shelf life by 2 to 4 times compared to conventional methods. Specifically, CASS’s CA technology can preserve apples for up to 12 months, meeting stringent preservation standards for premium markets.

Ms. Quach Thi Le Chan, Director of CASS, acknowledges that CA technology incurs higher costs compared to conventional refrigeration. However, the substantial benefits it offers to agricultural businesses in terms of reduced weight loss (1-2% water loss compared to 8-10% with traditional cooling), decreased spoilage rates (from 15-30% to under 5%), and minimized quality degradation (from 30-40% to 2-10%) outweigh the initial investment.

Furthermore, CA technology enhances brand credibility by ensuring consistent product quality and availability, even during market challenges like shipping delays or container shortages.

Given these significant advantages, CASS’s fully automated CA technology has garnered considerable interest from fruit and vegetable businesses. Many types of produce such as beets, sweet potatoes, guavas, coconuts, pomelos, persimmons, lemons, dragon fruits, watermelons, durians, passion fruits, and star fruits have already been entrusted to CASS facilities.