Inaba Peanuts Co., Ltd. was established more than a century ago as a maker of rice crackers. The business began to specialize in processing peanuts since 1947. It now also produces snacks such as almonds, cashews, walnuts, chestnuts, Japanese dried plums, almond fish and fried beans. At its four factories in Gifu Prefecture in central Japan, the company’s mission is to produce foods with “safety, security, and deliciousness”.
Inaba’s almonds and cashews became so popular that the company faced two significant challenges. One was the need to increase output to keep up with demand – but production rates were restricted by bottlenecks because of heavy reliance on manual sorting. The other was to achieve fewer variations in product quality – but again, the traditional method of manually sorting nuts was limiting achievable consistency.
Inaba Peanuts Co., Ltd.’s President and CEO, YoIchi Ogura, found solutions to both these challenges when he attended FOOMA JAPAN, the international food machinery and technology exhibition, in 2017. Visiting the stand of TOMRA Food, Ogura quickly recognized that TOMRA’s industry-leading sorting machines could help Inaba achieve both its targets: higher production volumes and consistent product quality.
When TOMRA Food reviewed Inaba Peanuts’ requirements, it was clear that the company needed the TOMRA 5B optical sorting machine. Inaba took delivery of a TOMRA 5B in September 2021 and is delighted with the results.
Source: farmersreviewafrica.com