leaf & processing

R&D centre in the 1970s with the aim of developing new blends. Its contributions to the development of kretek include developing the first low- tar, low- kretek, the first kretek cigarillo, a brown-paper kretek, a black- paper kretek and a cherry-flavoured and vanilla-flavoured kretek.

The strength of local processors

One of the main local tobacco leaf pro- CA chambers cessing companies is PT Mangli Djaya Photo: Eco2 Raya (MDR) , headquartered in Jember. The company employs about 7,500 people at 24 facilities throughout the country and buys, handles, processes, Tricky science packs and exports tobacco for its cus- tomers, which range from large multi- nationals to small manufacturers. It also supplies leaf to many international dealers and brokers. President & CEO, The Cooperation Centre for Scientific Research Relative to To- Nyoto Permadi, says, “MDR’s customers bacco (CORESTA) currently conducts further research before is- are growing every year. Our vast net- works of farmers have also ensured that suing guidelines on using Controlled Atmosphere in tobacco. we will not be short of tobacco when it Once the guidelines will be out, what will be the main consider- comes to fulfilling our obligations to the customers.” ations for installing the technology?

Chance to increase production ne year ago, TJI reported about more data to fulfill the scientific stan- controlled atmosphere (CA) as dard you have set.” With the recent rise in tobacco leaf O an alternative pest control me- Indeed, testing the technology which prices, and as demand for quality leaf in- thod to phosphine fumigation. Back kills insects in stored tobacco by depriv- creases and tobacco inventories shrink, then, it was hoped that the CORESTA ing them of oxygen, has been done thor- Indonesia, home to a diverse variety of Subgroup on Pest and Sanitation Man- oughly and meticulously. Starting back in different , will be in a unique agement in Stored Tobacco would issue 2009, the first tests were set up to find position to increase supplies to the glo- standard guidelines on how to use CA in out whether CA also works reliably in to- bal market. Indonesia has long been a tobacco at its 2011 meeting in South Af- bacco. (It has worked reliably in many preferred source of quality leaf for rica. The Subgroup did meet in April in other commodities such as rice nuts or manufacture, and for its Virginia and Cape Town, and discussed, among grain for many years.) That is, does CA Burley tobaccos. The country now has other things, phosphine resistance in ci- guarantee a 100 per cent mortality rate the opportunity to increase production garette beetles and reviewed the data amongst insects by the end of the treat- of its exportable tobaccos, such as flue- generated from a number of CA experi- ment? To answer this question, four para- cured Virginia and consolidate its posi- ments. But the decision was made to not meters – oxygen level, temperature, hu- tion as a preferred supplier of quality establish a standard on CA at this time. midity, and the duration of the treatment leaf. The country has the capacity to What had happened? – and their interrelatedness had to be ana- produce more tobacco leaf than it cur- “Things come up as you are doing re- lysed. By April last year, it became clear rently is, but, wary of causing prices to search,” explains Vernon Schmidt, ento- that firstly, CA is a reliable method fall, has only slightly increased its pro- mologist and senior staff scientist at RJ against beetles at an oxygen duction in recent years. With the cur- Reynolds Tobacco Company in the US level of below 0.5 per cent for a specified rent global rise in prices, now could be and co-chairman of the CORESTA Sub- time and that secondly, as a start, two sets time to ramp up production without group. “Such is science. You start with of parameters should be set for the indus- fear of adverse price consequences. some parameters and then you discover try – one for low and one for high starting Tim Glogan that you need to collect and analyse temperatures. (See also TJI 4/2010)

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While the first real-life trials were undertaken with just a few The final issue now is to consider the effect of CA on the taste hundred insects, this year, test trials were run with several and the quality of tobacco. thousand insects to support statistical analysis. CORESTA The researchers of the group do not think that CA could have member companies shared the research: While BAT con- such an effect. “Our hypothesis is that tobacco quality and ducted tests with 8,000 insects at 38 degrees Celsius, over taste are not affected by CA treatments,” says Schmidt at RJ four days treatment time, JTI ran the tests at 28 degrees Cel- Reynolds, “but verifying this is essential.” sius over nine days. At BAT, Perry agrees: “CA is applied in a vast variety of pro- “These latest tests trials finished as planned and we now await ducts and organoleptic effects [effects impacting taste, col- the mortality results which take a further 12 weeks post trial,“ our, odour and feel] are not known for any commodity. Every- says Jane Perry, Product Integrity Manager at BAT, who is in thing from grain and rice to nuts and dried fruit is treated with charge of running the tests for BAT. The Food and Environ- CA in storage or packed for longer shelf-life or after-ripening ment agency of the UK (FERA) – which is a member of the in deprived atmospheric surroundings, such as vacuum pack- Subgroup on Pest and Sanitation Management in Stored To- aging. This is why literature on CA in other commodities is bacco along with 21 member companies – has been brought widely available.” in to support the latest BAT trial. FERA’s protocol will be in- “However,” continues Perry, “in the world of tobacco, we are corporated into the final report on CA which the CORESTA committed to our duty of care to our consumers and so there Subgroup will submit to the CORESTA Board for a decision is a requirement to investigate any impact of CA on finished and hopefully approval. .” Such tests do, of course, take time, prolonging the wait for a CA standard. Couldn’t these tests have been conducted to- The taste gether with the previous tests? Unfortunately not. Says Schmidt: “We needed to fix the parameters for an optimal Yet, this final report awaits further tests still as the Subgroup procedure of the CA technology first,” he explained. “Only is devoted to analyse all eventualities of the CA technology. when we finish plant testing can we take the treated tobacco for further tests such as tasting. We have to take one step at the time.” The test results on taste and quality will complete the report that the Subgroup delivers to the CORESTA Board. Schmidt is 'XVW&ROOHFWLRQ hopeful that the testing and the Board’s approval of the new CA standard can be completed by the end of the year. 6\VWHPV This step is eagerly awaited by the industry, according to the two providers of CA technology – ECO2 and B-Cat, both from the Netherlands. They report several dozens of interested par- ties. Clearly, the possibility to finally treat phosphine resistant ci- garette beetles with success is great. But Jane Perry of BAT also sounds a note of caution: “Controlled Atmosphere treat- ment is another tool in our toolbox of pest control, but it will not solve all our problems.” she said. “What we have to be clear about is that, like phosphine, CA offers no residual ef- fect. So as soon as the tobacco comes out of the treatment chambers it can be contaminated again by putting it, for ex- ample, in a contaminated environment.” Perry emphasizes that it is important for the to look at the whole chain of conduct, including housekeep- ing, the supply chain and the way tobacco is handled in stor- age warehouses and the transport to and from there.

The process

3QHXPDWLF 7REDFFR)HHGLQJ At ECO2, manager Marketing and Sales, Jacobien Bakker, agrees that CA treatment has to be set up and integrated into 1(27(&+1,.*PE+ 7HO the logistic chain in a way that minimises the risk of recon- 3LGHULWV %OHLFKH LQIR#QHRWHFKQLNFRP tamination. “CA fits well at several points in the logistics pro- %LHOHIHOG*HUPDQ\ ZZZQHRWHFKQLNFRP cess,” she explains. “There are three possibilities. The to-

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                                                                       leaf & tobacco processing

bacco could be treated before it enters facility at the port.” But the considerations should not stop the factory, or in boxes before it is There are considerations within the in- there. Installing a new technology such stored in a warehouse. The third possi- dustry to set up two areas in factories as CA also holds the opportunity to re- bility is advisable if the tobacco goes di- and warehouses, one “dirty” and one think and possibly to completely rear- rectly to the costumer. In this case in- clean area. This set up, which is already range the logistics process. Such con- sect infestation and damage to the to- commonly applied in food commod- siderations are even necessary because bacco can be minimised if the tobacco is ities, would be a great improvement in – due to the treatment being held in a treated just before it is exported, that is avoiding possible re-contamination specific chamber – it is often not poss- either in the factory before loading it with the tobacco beetle & moth in ible to simply swap phosphine fumi- into a container or in the container at a treated tobacco. gation for CA without adjusting the pro- cess of handling tobacco. “Installing CA is not only a matter of investing in a new technology but also of doing pesticide treatment differently,” says Bakker. “We inform and advise interested parties on how the technology works and how it works most efficiently within their existing business processes.” A costumer who handles tobacco has to consider two main things for installing CA technology. One, how much to- bacco they need to treat per year and Find us on two, how they want to integrate CA booth no. C 47 treatment into the existing fumigation process. With regard to the volumes, to- bacco dealers have flexibility on their side. The chambers needed for treating tobacco in a controlled atmosphere can be built in many sizes, starting from as little as 40 sqm, up to 1,000 sqm. “To determine the optimal size, we cal- culate the throughput of tobacco,” says Bakker. “Next, we ask interested cus- tomers at what point in the logistics pro- Moisture Tester MT-C ISO certified to DIN EN 9001:2000 Commission Regulation (EC) cess they currently fumigate and at what Rotary Mill No. 2182/2005 for the determination point they would ideally want to treat of the Moisture Content of Raw Tobacco their tobacco.”

The costs

Suppliers of leaf tobacco may already be convinced of the advantage of CA, but still, they want the final approval from CORESTA before undertaking a big in- vestment like this. Because of the high- Sample preparation and moisture measurement tech equipment needed, including gen- erators for the air pumps, airtight Moisture Tester MT-C Brabender® Rotary Mill chambers etc, it is indeed a fairly big in- High accuracy (< 0,1%) For tobacco and many vestment, however, in the long run the Reweighing automatically other materials treatment costs per carton could well Auto calibration Variable degree of fineness be lower than for phosphine fumi- 10 samples at time gation, and certainly for freezing. “If you Brabender® GmbH & Co. KG take an average cost of fumigation of E-Mail: [email protected] • www.brabender.com about EUR 50 per tonne of tobacco in an average priced environment in Europe,

52 TOBACCO JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL Ȋ 3/2011 leaf & tobacco processing

CA is cheaper in the long run,” says stored tobacco. Options being investi- about 6 degrees. This heating period of René Luyten, director and owner of gated are to heat up the tobacco to 28 the tobacco has to be added to the ac- B-Cat, “that is, when including the initial degree Celsius, and apply a treatment tual treatment time and the time for investment in the calculation.” time of nine days, or treat it at 38 de- loading and unloading. At 38 degrees The precise costs of the technology de- grees Celsius which reduces the treat- Celsius, the total time it takes to apply pend on several factors specific to a ment time to four days. Again, it is diffi- CA to tobacco is about 7 days, which company and the country it is located cult to specify how long this heating up compares to the current fumigation pro- in. “It is hard to say in general terms period will take, as it depends on the set cess. what a CA treatment will cost as every up of the technology, but as a rule of Of course, many tobacco processing country has different costs for say, elec- thumb one can consider the daily in- countries have natural outside tempera- tricity or labour,“ says Luyten. “In India, crease of temperature to be roughly tures of close to 30 degrees so heating the costs of running the technology might not be necessary. A back-up could be comparably expensive as the heater, for the event that temperatures labour power that you need for fumi- In essence drop overnight, might still be useful. Ac- gation is cheap. Also, some countries cording to Luyten of B-Cat the heater charge import duties on machinery. CORESTA conducts final test trials on makes up a rather small part of the over- Some companies may already fumigate Controlled Atmosphere (CA) all set up costs. Also, because heating in special rooms so there is the possibil- costs are mostly comparably low to the ity to convert it to a CA room at lower Issuance of CA standard guidelines overall costs of treating tobacco, it costs. There are many aspects we have expected this year could well be more efficient to heat the to consider before giving a quotation.” tobacco up to 38 degrees Celsius even One of the main costs relates to the CA treatment can be integrated in in moderately tempered countries such amount of heating required which dep- logistics chain in several ways as European countries. ends on the initial temperature of the Anja Helk

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