13 March 2007: Keeping all the flavor in refrigerated foodstuffs

The First Course on the Quality and Refrigeration of Perishable Foodstuffs organized by the Chair of Mercamadrid in the Polytechnic University of Madrid begins   Since a general refrigeration and cold storage company started operating in Mercamadrid, industrial cooling facilities have not stopped growing. Today, we have more than 600,000 cubic meters of refrigeration and cold storage facilities, making Mercamadrid the leader of similar European platforms in the sector.

The Director of the Mercamadrid Foundation, Miguel Ramírez, addressed the students at the beginning of the academic year commenting on how the spectacular development of the food refrigeration technology has met the challenges the entrepreneurs of Mercamadrid set out to attain, by offering products of the maximum quality to their customers. He also remarked on how having materialized this objective has entailed, in addition to a significant investment, gaining an in-depth knowledge of both the refrigeration technology and the correct use and handling of the refrigeration facilities.

The Mercamadrid Chair has designed a practical course oriented to the organoleptic improvement of refrigerated foodstuffs, an aspect that differentiates it from other generic training courses on industrial cold storage.

The course is imparted by experienced professionals in the management of  cold storage facilities and industrial refrigeration from Mercamadrid, researchers from the Cold Storage Institute of the CSIC, specialists in logistics and pre-doctorate engineers from the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

The course is coordinated by Pablo Amigo Martín, Chair of the Technical Agricultural Engineers College of the Polytechnic University and by José Ignacio Floristán Goñi, Director of the Refrigeration Division of Axima Sistemas e Instalaciones, S.A., and totals 24 lecture hours imparted in 8 three tour modules Tuesday and Thursday morning during the month of March.

The Mercamadrid Chair develops its research curriculum at the Upper Technical School of Agronomy Engineering located in the Polytechnic University of Madrid, and imparts the lecture courses at its Branch School located in the Mercamadrid Training Center, easily accessible through public transportation. These facilities are equipped for 100 students and are outfitted with the most modern teaching support technology.

As part of its research and training functions pertaining to the production, making, transformation and distribution of foodstuffs, the Mercamadrid Chair engages also in other related activities, such as the following:

Scholarships for internships in companies of the sector intended to give technical training to UPM students that have already earned 50% of the approved credits and would like to be placed in business of the agroalimentary service sector to gain practical experience in the field.

Debate fora which objective is to advance in the agroalimentary chain on subjects as significant as: “quality at the point of sale”, “ethics of distribution”, or “the need to train entrepreneurs and companies that have a relationship with Mercamadrid”.

Research lines that contribute solutions to demands such as: processing of yucca, yams and other ethnic foods for vacuum packaging; conservation techniques for peeled fresh fruit: marketing studies

Wine tasting workshops: one day sessions with experts and professionals of the OREC sectors involving the participation of hostelry schools.

Professional publications in the subsector of perishable foods.

Agroalimentary library located in the Upper Technical School of Agronmy Engineering