BBC Technologies showcased CURO8 filling system and LUCAi™ artificial intelligence at Fruit Logistica

BBC Technologies, part of the TOMRA Food family, began as berry grower and then started developing technology to support their own berry growing operations. After more than 20 years of experience, the company is well known worldwide for modular and scalable packing and sorting solutions for a wide range of delicate and small products: blueberries, cherries, grapes, cherry tomatoes, cranberries, olives, and much more. At Fruit Logistica BBC Technologies showcased the CURO8 fill-by-weight system, developed for cherries, blueberries and small tomatoes, and their recently-introduced LUCAi™ artificial intelligence software for blueberries.

The fruit is handled gently thanks to the low drops and minimal transitions. BBC Technologies’ sales manager Joshua shares that “it is capable of filling 125-gram packs of blueberries at a rate of up to 110 packs per minute.”

The CURO8 is an addition to the range which includes the CURO2, CURO12, and CURO16 models.  It has the same user interface. Being installed with MIRA360 or KATO260 graders it increases productivity and profitability, while reducing overweight packs and minimizing fruit give-away. Joshua explains: “CUROs with eight and more filling stations can be implemented in a single packaging line. This will allow sorting multiple grades and packing for different markets simultaneously.”

At the end of 2019 BBC Technologies introduced the LUCAi™ artificial intelligence software, which classifies and grades blueberries with even higher accuracy to precise market demands. After several successful installations the company brought LUCAi™ to Fruit Logistica to satisfy emerging interest from blueberry growers. Joshua indicates that “LUCAi™ is an add-on for the KATO260 optical blueberry sorter. Artificial intelligence processes up to 2,400 individual fruit images every second and informs the machine how to classify each piece of fruit. In wavelengths that are not visible to the human eye, LUCAi™ also identifies fruit characteristics, further enhancing the sorting accuracy. LUCAi™ is sensitive to subtle defects in the fruit, such as dehydration, bruising, and early anthracnose.”

For more information about BBC Technologies, CUROs and LUCAi™ see http://bbctechnologies.com/ or contact Joshua Miers-Jones, +64 21 022 17088, Joshua.Miers-Jones@tomra.com