Turkish fruit producer increases its capacity with TOMRA Blizzard optical sorting machine

Mapeks was founded in Izmir, Turkey, in 1999, and today is one of the leaders in organic agriculture, with 4 production facilities in Turkey - in Bilecik, Afyon, Usak, and Malatya. The company markets 35 different organic fruits and exports frozen cherries, sour cherries, figs and apricots to 80 countries on 7 continents. Mapeks is one of Turkey's main exporters of organic strawberries. Every year, Mapeks exports 10.000 tons of strawberries, when the total annual export volume is 20.000 tons of strawberries. The annual value of the company’s exports reaches $35 million. 

To guarantee product quality, food safety, and high yield, Mapeks continues to develop its facilities and invests in technology automation. TOMRA Blizzard optical sorting machine, its latest investment, has increased capacity and improved product quality. 

Mustafa Memur, the Chairman of the Board of Mapeks Organics, said that utilizing optical sorting machines resulted in minimized product loss, increased product quality, food safety, and high product standards. This is what Mapeks obtained with the Blizzard optical sorting machine in their facility in Afyon. 

The company uses the Blizzard mostly for processing cherries, strawberries, pomegranates and apricots. With this machine it now takes 15 minutes rather than 40 minutes to process a ton of product, compared to traditional manual sorting methods. This will enable Mapeks to boost its monthly production tonnage by 25 percent.

According to Memur, with the Blizzard they will be able to remove foreign materials and defective products from the production line, therefore increasing yield. They also aim to minimize product waste. Mapeks is going to process different products in different seasons, which is an important factor. Despite their varying product types and challenging working conditions, the Blizzard will reach a higher performance even in long shifts.

The Blizzard’s high-resolution cameras are complemented with pulsed LED light for imaging contrast, achieving a precision similar to that of sorters with laser technology. This allows the efficient removal from the production line of foreign materials and defected products. Its space-saving design allows the Blizzard to fit well in most production lines.

In the last decade, frozen fruit and veg production for export and domestic markets has jumped in Turkey. The pandemic has speeded up this growth - during this period Mapek has doubled its capacity.  

Memur thinks that the pandemic has reshaped people’s consumption habits. Products that can be stored for longer without losing nutritional value, and which don’t contain additives, have become more popular. This means demand for frozen food has risen. To meet the increased demand, the company has boosted its capacity, retained and upgraded product quality by utilizing technology by TOMRA.

Bugra Bulut, TOMRA Food Turkey’s Sales Manager for Processed Food,  thinks that with the Blizzard sorting machine, unwanted product defects and foreign materials are removed with such accuracy that waste of saleable product is lowered and yield is enhanced. This is due to the intensity of the pulsed LED lights, which guarantees more precise sorting than other lit machines. 

The Blizzard can operate over a long shift without deteriorating its performance significantly. Moreover, it has a cost-yield balance. Compared to other camera-based sorting machines, the Blizzard is more like sorting machines with camera-laser combinations. It offers cost-effective performance for IQF fruit processors.

For more information about TOMRA Food, see the website