Promises un-compromised freshness and quality in fish retailing
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (ICAR-CIFT) Cochin has designed and developed an energy-efficient Refrigerated Fish Vending Kiosk for selling fish in the village, urban and municipality areas.
The unit called ‘Chillfish’, has been developed using food grade stainless steel (SS 304) and transparent toughened polycarbonate sheets integrated with a refrigeration unit of capacity 300 W. The total cost of the kiosk is Rs 60,000 including GST.
It is also fitted with a hand-operated descaling machine for removing the fish scales. The power source of the unit is electricity through AC connection. The kiosk can also be connected with the solar energy input provision without external power sources.
The unit can extend the fish’s shelf life for 4 to 5 days and enhance fish vendors’ marginal benefit. The estimated annual cost per unit has been calculated to be Rs 26,26,650 with an annual return of Rs 30,87,000 that yields a net profit of Rs 4,60,350.
The Society for Assistance to Fisherwomen (SAF), Department of Fisheries, Government of Kerala has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ICAR-CIFT for fabricating and installing 20 Refrigerated Fish Vending Kiosks for the benefit of women fish vendors under the ‘Theeramaithri Project’ of the Government of Kerala.
