Fruit grading becomes precise and easy with SmartGrade software.

TOMRA Food presented SmartGrade on its Spectrim platform. This new system provides the packhouse with absolute control of grading with such precision that it is able to pack fruit by matching accurately the individual needs of customers. It detects each type of defect and maintains consistent grading performance even if the quality of products is different. 

Kurt Bagby, Research and Grading Team Lead, R&D at TOMRA Fresh Food, explains that the advantage is that you can look for various things on each pass, rather than bundling them together. This is extremely useful when defects occur on top of each other or together. It enables it to get very precise in your grading.

The numerous passes targeted on individual defects means that SmartGrade keeps a consistent grading performance when there are variations in batches of fruit.

Another advantage is that now, with SmartGrade, there are fewer people needed on the line for manual grading due to its capacity to keep high accuracy with high variability in incoming fruit batches. 

It performs equally well on all kinds of produce: pip fruit, stone fruit (including cherries and avocados), citrus, kiwis, potatoes, onions, etc. 

Prima Frutta, US-based packer, is an evidence of how SmartGrade’s grading accuracy reached an entirely new level, delivering great improvements in efficiency and profitability with all commodity types.

The company is known for its adoption of cutting-edge technology and has earned a reputation for growing and selling top quality cherries and apples.

Tim Sambado, owner of Prima Frutta commented that this season they tested the new SmartGrade software on their new InVision2 cherry grading line. It allowed them to grade consistently and with accuracy, eliminating such defects as open sutures and subtle browning from wind scarring. It clearly differentiates between cosmetic surface blemishes and defects with the potential to provoke later spoilage of the fruit. 

TOMRA Food is a producer of sensor-based sorting machines and integrated post-harvest equipment for the food industry. The company uses one of the world’s most advanced grading, sorting, peeling and analytical technology.

They are aiming to help their customers to improve returns, gain operational efficiencies, minimise food waste, ensure quality and a safe food supply with sustainable technologies. 

Their solutions are installed at food growers, packers and processors around the world. This allows businesses to maximise productivity and recovery rates, while reducing food waste and developing the overall quality of the produce.

For further information about TOMRA, please see their website.