In the middle of summer in the Coachella Valley (the desert in Southern California), bell peppers are grown, harvested and packed. Bell peppers are packed in the field, using a harvesting rig. This footage was gathered from Illume Ag, who grows bell peppers in the Coachella Valley in the Spring (May to June) and Fall (November to December). You will also get to see footage of a bell pepper packing house operation located in Gilroy, California that shows a different method for how bell peppers can be packed.
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Harvesting Bell Peppers
Bell peppers are harvested by hand into harvesting buckets. In this case, they are harvesting red bell peppers, so they are looking to select peppers based on the color. They can harvest them before they are fully red and they will turn fully red within a few days. As you can see below, not all of the bell peppers ripen/color up at the same time, so multiple passes (typically, 3-4 passes) are made through the same field to harvest the peppers.
How are bell peppers harvested?
They are harvested by hand, without the use of any clippers.
How many times are the same plants harvested? In other words, how many passes are made through the same field?
The same plants are harvested 3-4 times. Not all of the bell peppers ripen on the plant at the same time, so the workers go through and harvest them once they reach the desired color.
How do you know when bell peppers are ready for harvest?
For these red bell peppers, it is all determined based on the color of the peppers. As the bell peppers grow, they start out as green and change color to red as they ripen. They can harvest the peppers when they are almost fully red and they will continue to change from green to red after harvest (although they do not continue ripening after harvest).
Do bell peppers continue ripening after harvest?
No. They are non-climacteric and do not continue ripening after harvest. The color change that can occur after harvest is aided by warmer temperatures instead of the use of ethylene, which is common for the degreening of citrus fruit.
Bell Pepper Packing in the Field
When bell peppers are packed in the field, they are taken from the field directly to the harvesting rig, where packers are working to pack the peppers into boxes. The main thing the workers are focusing on is checking for quality as they pack, since they are packing for three different markets at the same time. The packers have three boxes set up at a time, and each one represents a different market.
There is also an additional quality control step, where a designated worker takes a sample of the harvested product to check for any issues, such as shriveling, decay, insect damage, sunburn, bruising, and much more.
You can see the full process in the video below.
In the example above, everything is packed up and ready for the cooler once it leaves the field. However, other operations harvest their bell peppers and send them to a packing house to be sorted and packed.
Bell Pepper Packing in the Packing House
When bell peppers are packed and sent to the packing house, they arrive in large field bins and go through a scrubbing step and additional sorting steps. You can see an overview of the process below:
The bell pepper packing process in the packing house is as follows:
- Box Formation – Boxes are formed in house. There is a machine that is designated for box making. Once the boxes are formed, they are transported to the packing area.
- Product Arrival – The product arrives at the packinghouse via bins from the field. They are brought into the facility with a forklift that places them in line for the bin dump.
- Bin Dumping – The bins are dry dumped onto the machinery and are transported on a conveyor belt.
- Brush Step – The initial conveyor belt consists of brushes that scrub the exterior portion of the bell peppers.
- Sorting – There are two sorting areas. The first is where the culls are sorted out. While, the second determines which market the bell peppers will go to (e.g., primary or secondary), and removes any additional culls.
- Packing – Bell peppers are either hand packed for the primary market, or machine packed for the secondary market.
- Palletizing – The bell peppers that are packed by hand for the primary market are palletized in the packinghouse and taken to cold storage. While those that are machine packed are sent outside on a conveyor belt, where they are palletized and taken to cold storage.
- Cooling – The packed bell peppers are stored in the cooler until they are shipped, where they are force-air cooled.
Featured Grower Information
I would like to send a big thank you to Illume Ag and Uesugi Farms for allowing me to visit, gather and share this footage. Illume Ag grows bell peppers and table grapes, among other crops, throughout California in the Bakersfield and Coachella areas. Uesugi Farms bell pepper packing house was located in Gilroy, California, but has unfortunately gone out of business since my visit.
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An EXCELLENT report, full of interesting and valuable information. Having worked so incredibly close to all fresh produce & all colors, sizes and types of bell peppers in my career I can actually SMELL that deliciously alluring aroma of bell peppers growing in the field and in the packing areas!! Thank you for your great report, Megan!!