Tech-savvy Californian vegetable processor proves that ‘knowledge is power’ by using data to improve line rates, product quality, yields, and profitability

Since the dawn of JIT, manufacturing companies have strived for greater productivity, higher quality, and reduced costs. Some think that they have set the bar relatively high, or perhaps they are content with the height they have established themselves, but standards are continuing to rise, and complacency will not help them reach their potential.
There is a quote by Seth Godin that says: "You can raise the bar or wait for others to raise it, but it's getting raised regardless."

In a booming agribusiness market, TOMRA Food has presented several solutions for the various segments of the food sector in Brazil. The Blizzard machine dedicated to frozen fruit and vegetable processors is the latest addition to its offering.

For vegetable processors, the saying that “knowledge is power” is especially true now that they can use the new TOMRA Insight web-based data platform. By gathering detailed data from sorting machines, this subscription-based service gives processors more knowledge about what’s happening on their lines and the power to make better-informed decisions. This is transforming sorting from an operational process into a strategic management tool.

VIRTO GROUP, the largest frozen vegetable company in Spain and one of the most important in Europe, has again put its trust in TOMRA. The company has updated its main plant in Azagra (Navarra) with eleven Nimbus BSI+ sorters. This frozen vegetable mixing, packaging, storage, and distribution center is one of the most technologically advanced in the industry.

Fulfilling the two biggest responsibilities of IQF vegetable processing, food safety and product quality, can sometimes seem like mission impossible. Though processors are tasked with preventing foreign materials and imperfect produce from reaching the end of the line, these difficult-to-see enemies can also be difficult to stop. Extraneous vegetable material (EVM) and foreign extraneous vegetable material (FEVM) are often unseeable by the human eye and not always detectable by conventional sorting machines. But now there is a groundbreaking sorting technology which makes the previously impossible possible.

LEGUMBRES SELECTAS SIERRA NEVADA, a Spanish company, based in Granada, specializes in producing, processing, and marketing superior quality pulses. It is the Spanish market leader and is one of the top 5 companies on the European market in processing lentils, beans, and its own-production chickpeas. The company has found the Nimbus BSI+ by TOMRA to be the solution to the issues specific to grading pulses. This technology has achieved improved quality and food safety, a ten-fold increase in its production capacity, and a much more automated, controlled, and efficient process for its staff.

This guest article is an expert opinion from Cindy van Rijswick, Senior Fresh Produce Specialist from RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness

Processing organic vegetables, once a niche specialty, is now big business. However, while crops grown without pesticides are regarded by consumers as exceptionally natural and safe, they bring processing lines additional complications and risks.