Decco, a leader in post-harvest technologies, is now offering the only registered organic fungicide for apple storage.

The company is touting Nexy as the first-ever organic biofungicide. Ernest “Boomer” Cardinale, Decco’s US director of marketing and business development, said Nexy is a yeast-based antagonist to harmful pathogens. “It does an excellent job controlling blue mold and gray mold on storage apples by stealing the food source from those pathogens,” he said.

Packers and shippers of organic fresh produce face a huge challenge to reduce waste due to decay from storage, Cardinale said, and Nexy offers a biological protection tool for the organic packhouse operations. Fruit treated with Nexy forms a natural shield of protection against harmful pathogens in storage. Cardinale said without this biofungicide, packers must fight those diseases with organic sanitizers, which are not as effective.

“[Nexy] does an excellent job controlling blue mold and gray mold on storage apples by stealing the food source from those pathogens.” - Ernest “Boomer” Cardinale

“This is really a unique niche we are bringing to the marketplace … not bad for a 90-year-old company to still be innovating,” he quipped.

Yeast was discovered in an apple orchard as a natural predator against the pathogens, Cardinale said. Decco, in partnership with a French company, developed Nexy and first brought it to the US market three years ago.

Over the last couple of years, Cardinale said the firm has received positive responses from packers, and Nexy has performed well in trials, especially on the Honeycrisp variety, with significant increase in bin packout. “We are still collecting data, but Nexy is available, and we are selling it and promoting it.”

“This is really a unique niche we are bringing to the marketplace … not bad for a 90-year-old company to still be innovating.” - Ernest “Boomer” Cardinale

Some packers are also using Nexy on their conventional apples as part of their toolkit. Cardinale noted that over time pathogens create a resistance to classic chemistry, so the addition of this biofungicide in the rotation can help keep the pathogens at bay and increase the packout while reducing waste.

In addition to using Nexy as a biological solution for protecting post-harvest fruit, Decco also offers DeccoSan PAA products for use as sanitizers in an organic packhouse facility. For waxes and coatings, Decco provides DeccoNatur for organic apples and pears.

Cardinale said there is ongoing work developing organic coating products. “Right now, we are looking at coatings in the cherry space for post-harvest protection on the organic side,” he said, adding that Decco’s organic portfolio continues to expand.

Decco is a wholly owned subsidiary of UPL Limited, one of the world’s largest chemical companies. Its post-harvest solutions include coatings, cleaners, sanitizers, fungicides, and growth regulators. The company’s largest categories of customers are producers of citrus, pome fruit, and potatoes.

“Right now, we are looking at coatings in the cherry space for post-harvest protection on the organic side,” Cardinale said, adding that Decco’s organic portfolio continues to expand.

Additionally, the company has a hands-on approach and utilizes a customized service model to work with its customers. Decco does not use distributors, but instead its own field representatives work directly with packers, typically visiting the packing shed once a week during the season to make sure they have enough Decco product on hand and that the product is being used properly in the packing line. The company accomplishes this hands-on approach through long-term service agreements.