Netherlands: Packing robots greenhouse vegetables: automation and distinction

Not just within Europe, but also by companies themselves there is continuous innovation in the field of robotic packaging lines for greenhouse vegetables. Lower costs, reduced resource consumption and improved hygiene seem to be the three main arguments, but also distinction appears to be a reason for a new packing installation.

In 2012 the European Union launched the international research project PicknPack. Research is being done on a flexible packaging line for food, including fresh fruit vegetables. The benefits of automation, reduced costs, improved hygiene and better use of resources, should be combined with flexibility in the products to be packaged and their quantities. "Retailers and consumers are becoming increasingly demanding: they desire higher quality, more choices, greater safety and a low price," reports the WUR on the project, which runs until 2016 with a budget of almost 12 million Euro.

Aweta is also constantly finding new ways to automate. In recent years the Dutch machine builder developed a machine to wrap cucumbers in boxes. "A cucumber is difficult to package," says Eric Qualm of Aweta. “Citrus, apples and tomatoes, these are manageable. But a cucumber is elongated and so you need to realign them while packing. Still, cucumbers are all shaped differently, making packing extra difficult, that’s why it was previously done by hand."

In 2010, the company placed a prototype of the Q-pack at a company. The machine is now being delivered in the Netherlands and Canada. "The enhanced version, that is,” says qualm. He notes that the interest for automation in the greenhouse sector is subject to the crisis. The Q-pack has a maximum packing capacity of 6,000 cucumbers per hour, making it much more efficient. "But in times of financial adversity, and despite the positive ROI for customers, it’s more difficult to get a loan for a capital purchase than to have higher operating costs," says qualm.

But efficiency isn’t the only factor here, as growers’ union company director Huub Welles explains. “We also offer cucumbers in a flowpack these days,” he says. “We are aware that this doesn’t necessarily contribute to any of the benefits hitherto mentioned, but most retailers also want something else, and that is to stand out. Sealed cucumbers are a dime a dozen these days, and distinction in the isles is becoming increasingly important.”