Hi-Volume cherry line starts production California

Compac’s newest sorter, the Small Fruit Sorter, has officially started production for Prima Frutta based in Linden, California. Sorting 50,000 cherries every minute for size, shape, color, softness and surface defects; making this machine one of the largest electronic cherry sorters in the world. Cherries are graded using Compac’s market leading InVision 9000 sorting system which uses a combination of LED lights and digital cameras to capture multiple images of every cherry from a number of angles, allowing for an accurate model of each cherry to be created. Based on this the sorter is able to make objective and consistent decisions on the quality of each individual cherry.

This consistency and accuracy of sorting is one of the key advantages of the Compac system over both manual human sorting and other automated systems. David Buys, Compac Sales & Marketing Director says “The level of consistency our InVision system delivers allows our customers to significantly reduce the amount of fruit which they either incorrectly downgrade or worse still, throw away. When you have hundreds of individuals subjectively sorting cherries you cannot guarantee consistency over a long shift, our goal is to reduce this number and also raise throughput”. According to Compac this system will have significant returns on the initial investment. “Every cherry you needlessly throw away or downgrade is coming straight off the bottom line of the grower and packer” Buys says “Our measure of success is how much extra value we can add to our customers’ operations by upgrading their productivity and maximizing fruit which can be sold in the highest grades.”

The new Compac Small Fruit Sorter also has significant advantages over other systems in being a fully standalone system. “Some other systems need to be installed in conjunction with other mechanical sizing and cascade sorters before and after them” David Buys says “With our solution the customer can deal with one supplier for all of their sorting needs, thus reducing the complexity of their system and they can be confident that they have end-to-end support throughout the project and when they start packing.”

The project is a collaboration between Compac Sorting Equipment, Van Doren Sales and Fruit Handling Equipment. “We’re looking forward to leveraging this project as an example to the rest of the industry of what our capabilities are” says Bret Pittsinger of Van Doren Sales. “Compac technology, combined with our high standard of workmanship is the industry standard for cherry sorting solutions, both in California and Washington State.”

Background – Compac Small Fruit Sorter
The Compac Small Fruit Sorter is Compac’s latest sorter, designed to sort cherries and other small fruits. It uses the company’s market leading InVision system to grade based on shape, size, diameter, color, surface blemishes, firmness and bruising. More than 80 lanes of the electronic Small Fruit Sorter have been supplied to the industry operating in New Zealand, South America and the United States since the product’s launch in 2011.

The Compac Small Fruit Sorter represents a revolution in the cherry industry, labor reductions and improvements in consistency via electronic sorting will drive greater efficiencies into packing operations, allowing growers and packers to remain competitive and provide a superior product to consumers.

For more information:
Nathan Soich
Compac
Tel: +64 9 929 2511
Mob: +64 21 177 4496
nathan.soich@compacsort.com