Every crate fleet gets washed somewhere. Doing it at the packhouse means capital, water and labour on site. Sending it out means transport and a per-crate charge. The right answer depends on volume, on water costs and on where the crates are – and it is worth costing both before committing, because it is expensive to change.
What in-house actually costs
The machine, which is a real capital item. Water and its treatment, which is a rising cost and sometimes a licence issue. Energy for heating, if the wash is hot. Labour to load and unload. Floor space, which is usually the most contested resource on a produce site. And maintenance. The per-crate cost falls with volume, so in-house favours high-volume operations.
What contract washing costs
A per-crate charge, plus transport both ways. Transport is the part that gets underestimated, because crates are bulky and the empty legs add up – the same arithmetic as any empty crate movement, discussed in freight on empty crates and why it dominates. The advantage is that capital, water and labour all sit with somebody else, and capacity can flex with the season.
Water is the deciding variable more often than volume
On a site with cheap water and somewhere to put it, in-house washing is straightforward. On a site with expensive water, a discharge consent or a drought risk, the calculation changes quickly, and the cost of water over a decade can exceed the cost of the machine. Where water is the constraint, contract washing at a site with treatment and recirculation is usually the better answer.
Hygiene control
In-house means direct control of the standard and the records, which some customers prefer and some require. Contract washing means relying on somebody else’s records, which is fine if they are good and a problem if they are not. Where a customer specification requires evidence of a wash standard, ask the contract site what records they provide before signing – it is the kind of detail that gets discovered at audit.
Seasonality
A packhouse that runs eight weeks a year has a wash plant idle for forty-four. That capital is expensive per crate. Contract washing flexes with the season, which is usually the better fit for a short, intense season and the worse fit for a year-round operation. Where several growers share a region, a shared wash facility is often the best answer and worth asking whether one exists.
The hybrid
A pre-rinse on site to remove bulk soil, then contract washing for the sanitising step, is a common and sensible compromise. It removes the worst of the load from the wash water, which is what drives the cost, and it keeps the capital small. For root crops in particular – where the soil load is high – this is usually the right shape.
What to ask a contract wash site
Three questions. What records do you provide, and can we see a sample. What is your capacity in our peak weeks, not your average. And what happens to a crate that fails your incoming check – is it washed anyway, returned, or disposed of. The third question is the one that reveals how the site actually operates.
Ask also whether they handle your crop types. A site set up for root crops may not have the water quality or the process for a high-care salad crop, and the difference matters more than the per-crate price. Where a customer specification applies, the site has to be able to meet it and evidence it.
What we can do
We supply produce crates that run through tunnel washers at contract sites as well as on-site plants, and we will tell you which of our designs suit a shared facility. Tell us your volume, your water cost and how many weeks a year you run.