Packaging flexibility is taken to the next level with new filling system

BBC Technologies, part of TOMRA Food and one of the global leaders in turnkey solutions for sorting, packing and optimizing small fruit, extends its industry-defining CURO filling system range with the new CURO-2 compact system for fruits under 40 mm diameter, primarily focusing on the blueberry, cherry and snacking tomato markets. Developed under market demand, it enables customers to pack small volumes of different grades of fruit simultaneously to supply the produce divided in multiple tiers for supermarkets, or supplement existing capacity.

“We developed CURO-2 because we wanted to increase further the flexibility and granularity of the CURO platform,” explains Geoff Furniss, BBC Technologies CEO. “We are seeing a significant shift in the market, with our customers being increasingly required to divide their fruit into multiple tiers and needing to pack different grades of product simultaneously. The CURO-2 provides the solution for packing our customers’ niche products once they have been graded, as well as providing them with additional capacity when needed. At BBC Technologies we have a track record for working closely with our customers and continually evolving and adapting our offering to suit their individual needs, and this is exactly what happened with this new product.”

The CURO-2 system was developed to meet the requirements of customers such as South Africa based Blue Mountain Berries. The company farms 143 hectares of blueberries, which it distributes through global group BerryWorld to markets across the world including Europe, South East Asia and Russia.

Chrisleo Botha, Managing Director at Blue Mountain Berries explains that the CURO-2’s versatility is a key benefit: “Sizing is increasingly a selling tool, and with the KATO 260 we are able to offer premium lines of fruit in a definite size or quality band. We can sort narrower size bands, for example diameters less than 14mm, 14 to 16mm, and 16mm plus, which give a much better appearance for some of our clients. The CURO-2 has increased our capacity to do a final pack in different sizes and it’s been working very well for us. Also, the premium lines attract better payment, which benefits our profitability.” Chrisleo is also impressed with the CURO-2’s gentle handling of the berries: “Part of our Quality Control process is to measure firmness, and I’d like to say we’ve got really consistent firmness. We don’t lose product integrity. In terms of quality and how we are perceived in the market, the machine has already paid a lot towards its purchase price in just half a season.”

Chrisleo also shares other advantages they have received while using CURO-2, for more benefits please check here.

The CURO-2 packs up to 700 kg/h and is extremely gentle on the produce throughout the process, ensuring consistently high quality of the packed fruit.

The CURO-2 is the latest introduction in the CURO range, which includes the CURO-12 and CURO-16 systems featuring 12 and 16 filling stations respectively. The range stands out for its flexibility and capability to switch easily between a wide range of packing options, in addition to its accuracy, gentle handling of the fruit, intuitive controls and simplified operation.

About BBC Technologies & TOMRA
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.

BBC Technologies is a member of the TOMRA Group that has ~90,000 installations in over 80 markets worldwide and had total revenues of ~7.4 billion NOK in 2016. The Group employs ~3,550 globally and is publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. (OSE: TOM). The TOMRA Group continues to innovate and provide cutting-edge solutions for optimal resource productivity within two main business areas: Collection Solutions (reverse vending and material recovery) and Sorting Solutions (recycling, mining and food sorting).

For further information about TOMRA, please see www.tomra.com/food.

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