As pressures grow on packhouse managers to improve throughput, yield and output quality simultaneously, the challenge rests on equipment designers to come up with new solutions to these challenges while maintaining or preferably lowering the operational cost.

All fruit is not created equal; at least, not in the eye of the consumer. As the healthy eating trend continues, consumers are demonstrating a willingness to pay a premium for top quality fruit. Playing to this market is allowing certain businesses to catapult their brands into the spotlight.

Más de 200 personas acudieron a la inauguración de la mayor planta de proceso de aguacate Hass en fresco en Colombia. Un evento que contó con la presencia del ministro de Agricultura y desarrollo rural, Andrés Valencia; el gobernador de Antioquia, Luis Pérez Gutiérrez; el alcalde de Sonsón, Obed de Jesús Zuluaga; la embajadora de Nueva Zelandia en Colombia, Lucy Duncan, todas las autoridades del municipio, funcionarios del Ministerio de Comercio Exterior, productores vinculados a la empresa, PROCOLOMBIA, Analdex, CorpoHass y todos los funcionarios, directivos y socios del Grupo Westfalia de Sudáfrica, así como AGRICOM de Chile, propietarios de Westfalia Fruit Colombia y Westfalia Farms Colombia.

Westfalia Fruit Colombia, a company of Westfalia Fruit, a South African leader in the supply of subtropical fruit, inaugurated on 18 January a new processing plant for Hass avocados in Sonsón, in the department of Antioquia, Colombia. The new facility is the largest and most advanced avocado processing plant in the country, featuring the latest grading and sorting technologies of world-leading packhouse technology provider Compac.

I have just finished a 2-week trip visiting Compac and TOMRA customers in Chile and the United States. I always enjoy visiting customers – it’s a great opportunity to see our sorting technology in action and the positive impact it’s having on food producers. It’s also fascinating to see first-hand the changes between visits and the effects global food trends are having on these businesses.

As the Product Manager for Peripherals I am excited to introduce Smartline™. Smartline is the operational control backbone for your packing line built on AVEVA’s SCADA. Read more about the partnership here. 

Cambridge, 18 October 2018 – AVEVA, a global leader in engineering and industrial software, today announced a new partnership with TOMRA to embed SCADA technology in sensor-based sorting and packhouse solutions for the fresh produce industry. This agreement unlocks greater operator performance, visibility and efficiency with TOMRA and Compac equipment.

At PMA Fresh Summit in Orlando, 19 – 21 October, TOMRA and Compac will demonstrate how digital technologies are key to overcoming the ubiquitous food industry challenges of production and yield maximization.