Spanish carrot producer increases its production volume by 20% with sorting machine by TOMRA

HORTÍCOLA ESMA is one of the main carrot producing companies in Spain, with 40 employees managing the carrot process from start to end.

In 1965 the Escribano Mato family, grandparents of the current owners, began to grow and market carrots. In 1995, HORTÍCOLA ESMA was born. 4 years later, in 1999, they set up the Villanueva de Duero plant in Valladolid and expanded their offer with potatoes and onions.

Today, all its products are certified by GLOBAL GAP (EUROPE GAP), Integrated Farm Assurance and "TIERRA DE SABOR".

Sergio Escribano, manager of the company, says that they pay attention to quality and constant technological advancement. 

TOMRA Food's Halo 1500 sorter has enabled them to increase their production by 20%. In addition, the waste that they normally send to ranchers has been reduced to a minimum.

Plant employees also notice the difference. Before they worked very fast and at the end of the day they didn't know if they were throwing away good or bad material.

Now they work more calm and sure that the machine does not fail. In addition, the acquisition of the Halo has saved 4 jobs in the selection line.

“We grow carrots with our own means and on our farms. We collect them with our machines and transport them in our trucks fast. It only takes 24 hours to reach supermarkets from the field”, explains Sergio Escribano.

Once the dirty carrots get into water tanks, where they are cleaned of foreign matter, the next steps are the "stone remover" and the "herb remover", which leave the product free of these elements. Then they go on to the Halo 1500, which separates good carrots from defected ones. 

After brushing and cooling, ends up in the grader that identifies those with the programmed size.

Halo 1500 is ideal for various fruits and vegetables. It is easy to manage, it has front and rear color cameras, pulsed LED lighting, and a NIR camera for the infrared spectrum to detect the most common defects: small, deformed or cut carrots, or with brown, black, red or green spots.

For the Escribano family, TOMRA has made a difference in terms of production and performance: “Without a doubt, we recommend TOMRA”.

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.

Their main goal is 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.

To learn more about TOMRA Food, follow the link.