VENUS P.114 grading machine consolidating in East Spain's kaki sector

The machinery installed at Coagri's facilities has six grading lines, which will make it possible to handle the approximately 15 million kilos of kaki, that the firm expects to market this campaign, over a period of four months; a process which requires high speed.

The VENUS machine is equipped with a "HIGH-DUMP" conveyor system capable of sorting fruit at incredible speeds with extreme care, as the fruit's unloading is done on a special floating curtain from the "FlexDrop" type which cushions and slows down the fruit, placing it on the exit conveyor or packing tables, depending on the type of facilities.

Thanks to the Venus machine, Coagri is managing to package 18,000 kilos of kakis per hour in 18 hour workdays, resulting in 324,000 kilos of kakis sorted per day. When the kaki campaign is in full swing, it is crucial to market the maximum amount possible while preventing claims for damaged fruit.

The latest generation electronics in the VENUS and the introduction of an innovative guidance system make it the fastest grading machine in the market, providing the best performance in terms of precision," said José Mata, commercial manager of Maxfrut for East Spain.

"The VENUS can grade by weight and also colour by means of the MaxColor Vision System, which measures the fruit's degree of ripeness by analysing the colour of its skin; very useful for the sorting of persimmons, which are usually greener earlier in the season," continued José Mata.

Since its launch, the VENUS has been installed in packaging plants in Spain's major production areas, such as Valencia, Murcia and Almeria, while its international presence has also been growing with exports to Mexico, Peru and Chile.

Although Coagri has acquired this technology with kakis in mind, the same facilities will be used for the stonefruit campaign in the sorting of peaches and nectarines, as the VENUS grader has been designed for the electronic grading of all medium sized fruits with a hemispherical diameter of between 25 and 125 millimetres (persimmon, apple, peach, plum, nectarine, kiwi...) with criteria for electronic weight measuring and maximum output of up to 50,000 fruits/hour/line.

The equipment makes it possible to wash and brush, grade, sort and finally place the fruit in boxes.

Stephane Mérit

Avda. De los Deportes 14.

Alzira, Valencia. Spain

Tel.: +34 962401214