A few years ago, the New Zealand fruit industry needed a solution to the pest contamination that the growers were experiencing as it was preventing them from exporting to key markets. The solution was found in a high-pressure fruit washer which was a collaboration between Plant and Food Research NZ and the industry.
The high-pressure washer is manufactured by New Zealand company CR Automation. The first product released based on this collaboration was in 2012. Since then, CR Automation have continued to refine the technology and now have a suite of fruit washing products for various cleaning specification and fruit types.
“The fact that it was developed specifically to clean fruit to the specification needed for import into countries with strict bio security rules makes this product unique and once the cleaning effectiveness was proven the CR Automation washing system very quickly became the market leader in New Zealand,” explains Perry Field, CEO at CR Automation.
“Due to the large local apple industry most of the washers are in apple pack houses. The high-pressure washer has also successfully been applied to avocados and we have a development ongoing in this area for the next generation of washer optimised for Avocado which we will release in 2024.”
Despite the difficult seasons in New Zealand there is keen interest to increase the adoption of automation, primarily driven by shortages in seasonal labour and increasing productivity. With New Zealand being a large exporter, the quality and phytosanitary requirements of the fruit is critical, so equipment that allows growers to meet these requirements is still in demand.
The high-pressure washer is effective at removing up to 98% of pests which exceeds New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries requirements for export. Water conservation with recycling filtration to 200 microns and automation of filter cleaning and waste removal and online condition monitoring of water pressure and flow, giving users information on jet nozzle blockage or wear out.
“CR Automation delivers both end to end fruit infeed solutions as well as working with clients to integrate our washers into their existing facilities. As well as apples, we build systems for avocado, citrus, and stone fruit. Our other main solutions include robotic bin dumps, infeed fluming, washers, drying beds, waxing lines as well as tray fillers, carton handling, robotic palettising and scanning. We also provide site wide SCADA systems as well as autonomous mobile robots for material movement.”
CR Automation was established 2002 in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. Products are manufactured in New Zealand and sold throughout NZ, Australia, and North America.
For more information:
Perry Field
CR Automation
Tel: +64 6 873 4238
perry.field@crautomation.nz
crautomation.nz