French potato producer enhances its output by installing the TOMRA 3A sorting machine

After two years of careful consideration whether acquiring or not, SCEA HERMANT has invested in a sorting machine TOMRA 3A, aiming to enhance the quality of onions and potatoes destined to fresh markets.

After the machine's debut season, Loïc and Alain Hermant have no doubts they made the right decision. It proved its cost-effectiveness and reliability. The machine was launched in autumn 2019 - and has been properly tested by the company until summer 2020. 

SCEA HERMANT, is a civil farming company in Villers-Bretonneux in the north of France, which possesses 200-240 hectares cropped with potatoes, with the annual production of 15.000 tons.

This produce is delivered to sheds which also store the farm's wheat, onions, sugarbeet, beans and peas. Annual production reaches 12.000 tons of tubers, with different varieties sized from 28 to 80 mm.

The produce is sold in big bags via brokers. The majority goes to packers and then to the supermarkets or fresh markets. The rest 15 % is mainly exported to Portugal, Spain, and Italy, with the internal market a secondary outlet. 

SCEA HERMANT selected the biggest model in the TOMRA 3A range, with a belt width of 2.4m. TOMRA provided them with technical support during the installation of machine in the hangar. 

The TOMRA 3A operated during the entire potato harvest season, and also was used to sort onions (2.500 tons). It made the production process flexible, enabling it to be accurately managed at any case. 

The team easily controlled the start-up and adjustments of the machine, selected the appropriate program that best matches the soil's quality when it is harvested, and the grade to be sorted.

Loïc Hermant, the co-founder of SCEA HERMANT, confirmed that the machine is simple to use, and now is managed by 3 people. Before the sorting machine arrived, there were 6 seasonal workers needed for sorting. 

Now the machine is in charge of supervision, over-sorting in specific difficult conditions, and the rolling of the skips needs this temporary staff. 

TOMRA Food's Area Sales Manager in France, Grégoire Volpoet, commented that TOMRA 3A meets producers' demands such as high-volume control at high capacity; detection of great robustness, green potatoes; statistical reports; is easy to use and move in the storage unit; and operates without having any impact on the tubers.

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.