FACILITY
Industry-Leading Scale,
Decades of Proprietary Expertise
These facilities are designed to ripen fruit delivered in an unripe state to the exact condition required by our customers before shipment. At Funasho Shoji, we operate dedicated ripening chambers on a scale among the largest in the industry. Supported by advanced equipment and decades of accumulated processing expertise, a wide range of fruits, including bananas, avocados, and mangoes, are carefully ripened here to achieve peak quality.
Below, we introduce the ripening process using the examples of bananas and avocados.
Post-Harvest
Banana Ripening
To deliver high-quality, great-tasting fruit to consumers,
green bananas are carefully and slowly ripened at Funasho Shoji every day.
01Ripening begins
Located within a bonded area adjacent to Oi Wharf, our facilities house 13 ripening chambers in the main building and 18 in a separate building, for a total of 31 dedicated banana ripening rooms. Freshly arrived green, firm bananas are carefully transported into these chambers to begin the ripening process.
02Immediately After Arrival
Because the import of fully ripened yellow bananas is prohibited under pest control and quarantine regulations, bananas arrive in this unripe green state.
03Loading into Ripening Chambers
Upon arrival, bananas are transported to chambers assigned according to their scheduled shipping dates. The 13 chambers in this facility are designed to accommodate large banana cartons, minimizing repacking and reducing the risk of damage.
04Ripening begins
Dormant green bananas are activated using ethylene gas and then ripened for approximately four to five days in warm chambers with carefully controlled temperature and humidity.
05Temperature Control
The temperature in each chamber is continuously and precisely adjusted in real time.
06Ripening Complete
To deliver bananas in the condition required by customers, they are gradually cooled to stabilize quality and ensure optimal readiness for shipment.
07Expert Management
Because banana condition varies by shipment, it is difficult to standardize temperature control solely through manuals. For this reason, experienced technicians at Funasho Shoji carefully assess the condition of bananas in each chamber and manage the process dynamically, 365 days a year.
08Shipping
The last step is shipping. After being sorted inside the chambers, the bananas are transported directly to trucks by forklift. Bananas ripened to each customer’s specifications are shipped according to schedule.
Post-Harvest
Avocado Ripening
Funasho Shoji’s advanced technology and facilities
ensure the delivery of high-quality, safe, and reliable avocados.
Ripening Chambers
Ripening for fruits other than bananas is conducted in dedicated chambers on the first floor of our headquarters building. These facilities consist of two specialized rooms: a ripening room and a cooling room.
01Arrival & Start of Ripening
The vibrant green color indicates unripeness. Because avocados arrive unripe, they are conditioned in ripening chambers where temperature and humidity are carefully controlled.
02Sorting & Adjustment
Even after ripening is complete, individual differences may cause variation in maturity. At this stage, avocados are sorted by color, and unripe ones are further ripened to ensure consistent quality.
03Inspection & Shipping
Each avocado is individually inspected, then sorted by destination, and prepared for dispatch. A final inspection just before shipment ensures consistently high quality. Because inspection relies on visual appearance and texture, it requires advanced skill and judgment. Our team verifies sorting accuracy and ripening results every day.
