Manufacturer of sorting machines intends to reduce food waste

More than 30 journalists from all over the globe and an international crowd of industry professionals attended press event at Fruit Logistica Berlin, where Stefan Ranstrand, TOMRA’s President and Chief Executive Officer, gave a speech about the company’s unique offering, values, and future objectives. At the heart of his talk was the message how TOMRA can contribute to global sustainability by helping to reduce food waste, at the same time as enhancing the technical and economic performance of food producers.

“One of our big aspirations for the future is to help our customers even more to reduce food waste and improve yields,” Mr. Ranstrand explains. “We are in a world with an ever-growing population, expected to increase up to 10 billion people by 2050, and will have to produce 70% more food than we do today. Right now, we waste between 35% and 50% of all the food we currently produce, and that’s something we must address. We would like to see our technologies help bring much more food to the table.”

Talking further about customer relationships, Mr. Ranstrand cited how fruit picking-and-sorting seasons can be very short, demanding a huge amount of work to be accomplished quickly without unplanned downtime. This is why he believes the key to TOMRA’s success is working closely with customers as partners. “The most important thing is to understand the customer and give them full value, not only in sorting accuracy, but also to make sure the machine runs all the time and always delivers top performance.”

Data gathered during automated food inspecting and sorting is likely to be used in the future to improve farming efficiencies and the quality of products reaching consumers. Data will also give consumers the information they increasingly desire. Knowing details such as the food’s provenance, sugar composition, and the supplier’s sustainability credentials, will all help consumers make informed choices.

Mr. Ranstrand said: “By pioneering the design and manufacturing of sorters and graders of many different types and sizes, TOMRA offers technical solutions not found elsewhere. Our ability to combine different sorting technologies – color cameras, near infra-red (NIR), spectroscopy, and laser-detection – makes a difference.” The result of this unrivalled technical sophistication is that produce is accurately graded and safety-assured at the same time as reducing waste.

In this year’s prestigious European CEO Awards, whose winners were announced last month, Mr. Ranstrand was named “best CEO in the sustainable resource management industry”.

About TOMRA Food
TOMRA Food designs and manufactures sensor-based sorting machines and integrated post-harvest solutions for the food industry, using one of the world’s most advanced grading, sorting, peeling and analytical technology. Over 8,000 units are installed in more than 80 countries at food growers, packers and processors around the world for fruits, nuts, vegetables, potato products, grains and seeds, dried fruit, meat and seafood. TOMRA has grown at the rate of 14% per year in the last five years. Company operates centers of excellence, regional offices and manufacturing locations within the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia.
For further information about TOMRA, please see www.tomra.com

About Compac
Compac provides integrated post-harvest solutions and services to the global fresh produce industry using one of the world’s most advanced grading technology. Combining industry leading solutions with award-winning grading platforms like Spectrim, the company’s mission is to enable its customers to improve returns, gain operational efficiencies, and ensure a safe food supply via smart, usable technologies.
For further information about Compac, please see www.compacsort.com.

About BBC Technologies
BBC Technologies is one of the global leaders in complete turnkey solutions for grading, optimizing, and packing small fruit. Founded by growers, they specialize in soft, delicate varieties in which their industry-leading technology preserves the natural characteristics of each piece of fruit. BBC Technologies designs, develops, manufactures and installs all of their own end-to-end turnkey lines, which include traceability and analytics software.
For further information about BBC Technologies, please see http://bbctechnologies.com.

Compac and BBC Technologies are members of the TOMRA Group.


For inquiries about machines and equipment:
https://www.tomra.com/en/sorting/food
http://www.compacsort.com/
Roberto Ricci
GM & VP Europe
Roberto.Ricci@tomra.com
+39 335 1224955