"We are developing complete solutions for processing lines from receiving to packaging a large variety of fruits and vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, onions, fresh sweetcorn, mushrooms, berries, apples and many others. In fact, we are the only company with a functional solution for processing fresh sweet corn," says Daniel Ghadiri, CTO of ProexFood LLC. His company offers a variety of machines for processing fresh food, IQF products, vacuum packaging and canned fruits and vegetables. "We offer our solutions everywhere in the world - from Australia to the West Coast of the United States. Everything comes from one source with us; if we cannot manufacture or develop the machines ourselves, we turn to one of our many partners."
These partnerships are important to ProexFood, says Ghadiri: "Global thinking is important to us. We always want to provide our customers with the perfect solution and that is only possible through close cooperation and communication." Apart from that, ProexFood wants to deliver 'turnkey solutions'. "Even if you are not familiar with processing machines, we want you to be able to trust us with finding a way to add value to your operations." The system are controlled with a central control panel, through which many aspects, such as processing speed and capacity can be regulated.
Complete processing line for sweetcorn - 250 cobs per minute capacity
Ghadiri is particularly proud of their solutions for processing fresh market sweet corn. "We have a production line for cutting and husking fresh sweet corn." ProexFood uses special husking rollers, air pressure and water which prevent damage to the products during the process. The machines are already in use throughout Europe, the USA and Australia. "We are constantly working on improving our solutions and building the trust of our customers. They know that they receive a quality product as well as extensive after-sales services."
Sweet corn husking machine and the finished product on the shelf
Automation is important and Ghadiri says he was surprised by how far behind companies in the fruit and vegetable sector are when it comes to the modernization of their plants. "We work a lot on automation, which is a big issue and a big challenge for our customers around the world. They are often unable to find enough workers and labour is getting more and more expensive. Companies from Australia, Central Europe and to the US all have the same problem. Our customers need automation - the most important thing for them is usually an automated packaging line."
"Packaging lines are a priority for us since many things are still being done manually in packaging. For example, the harvested products have to be put into trays manually or bags of frozen products are manually packed in boxes. It's hard to find employees and automation also makes work safer." The labor shortages mean that it is currently easier to have a robot on site than actual people. "Therefore, we are, for instance, concerned with how a gripper arm can best pick up fruits or vegetables and place them in their packaging without causing any damage."
Vegetables processed and packaged by ProexFood machines
"We already have concepts regarding the automatic packaging of fresh sweet corn. It encompasses picking up the sweet corn from the conveyor belt and placing it on a tray. After that, the product is packaged and then placed into boxes by robots. We expect global interest or these and similar solutions," says Ghadiri. "Because we have a large array of machines in our group, delivering options for a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, we are extremely flexible in our ability to satisfy our customers, now and in the future."
The German and American sectors differ, according to the expert, mainly in the quantities processed: "The numbers in America are much larger. In general in Europe, for example, an average company processes some 5 or 6 tons of sweet corn processing per hour, but in the US, we have much higher capacities like 40-50 tons/h." In general, the level of automation is a bit behind the times everywhere. "Most businesses are already using machines for processing, but investments are still needed for packaging and palletizing."
Different production lines
"I'm out and about everywhere and I visit many companies. I still see a lot of manual labor - in Germany, fresh sweet corn can only be processed manually." For August, companies would hire many seasonal workers who husk the corn by hand. "This restricts the flexibility of the companies, and retailers are not happy with it either. They are afraid of contamination with various pathogens. Food safety is another focus of our solutions."
ProexFood has representatives in many countries worldwide. Companies in the US, Australia and throughout Europe, including countries like Hungary, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Switzerland are using ProexFood's processing and packaging lines. They offer customer service with an extensive network of employees in the respective countries and with company offices in Dusseldorf, Chicago and Milwaukee.
For more information:Daniel Ghadiri (Europe, Middle East, Asia)
ProexFood LLC
Tel: +49 151 57881362
Email: dan@proexfood.com
Ross Lund (North and South America, Australia)
Tel: +1 (262) 215-5991
Email: rosslund@proexfood.com
Website: www.proexfood.com