TOMRA showcases 5S Blueberry sorter and LUCAi technology at Fruit Attraction 2026

TOMRA Food is presenting its new TOMRA 5S Blueberry optical sorting system at Fruit Attraction 2026 in Madrid, alongside live demonstrations of its LUCAi deep-learning technology.

The new grader is designed to give blueberry growers and packers greater control over fruit quality throughout the sorting process. TOMRA is also showing how LUCAi can be used across several fruit categories, including apples, blueberries, cherries, citrus, kiwifruit and stone fruit.

Gentler blueberry handling

The TOMRA 5S Blueberry combines the company’s Spectrim grading platform with LUCAi technology.

The system has been developed to handle blueberries more gently from intake to discharge. Transfer points, contact surfaces and drop heights have been adjusted to reduce pressure and impacts on the fruit.

This is intended to help protect the blueberry’s natural bloom, appearance and overall condition during grading and packing.

The technology also provides dehydration detection and consistent quality assessment while helping packhouses maintain throughput.

Troy Cleaver, Senior Product Manager at TOMRA Food, said the new system was developed around three main priorities for the blueberry sector: protecting fruit quality, improving grading accuracy and giving operators greater control over the process.

Deep learning for defect detection

LUCAi uses deep-learning models trained on large numbers of images showing real fruit defects collected across different seasons, growing regions and product categories.

This allows the technology to identify defects that can be difficult to detect with conventional sorting methods.

TOMRA says the system can also help packhouses maintain more consistent grading when experienced sorting staff are limited or employee turnover is high.

With Spectrim, LUCAi can be used for apples, citrus, kiwifruit, stone fruit and blueberries. The technology is designed to identify subtle defects while supporting tighter quality control and reducing unnecessary product loss.

For cherries, TOMRA offers LUCAi through its InVision2 inspection system, with a focus on more consistent quality assessment and packhouse performance.

More information for operators

LUCAi does more than separate acceptable and defective fruit. The system can classify defects and provide information about confidence and severity.

This gives operators more detail when deciding how fruit should be graded and directed to different markets or product categories.

Christian Tougaard, Regional Sales Director for EMEA at TOMRA Food, said feedback from customers has highlighted the additional control LUCAi gives operators. He added that expanding the technology across blueberries, cherries, apples, citrus, stone fruit and kiwifruit represents an important move beyond more traditional fruit-mapping systems.

Live demonstrations in Madrid

During Fruit Attraction, TOMRA is running live demonstrations so visitors can see how LUCAi works under conditions closer to those found in commercial packhouses.

The company is also presenting other solutions aimed at helping growers and packers reduce dependence on manual sorting, improve quality control, limit waste and increase the proportion of fruit that can be packed into higher-value grades.

TOMRA Food is exhibiting together with integration partner ICOEL in Hall 10, Stand D25. To schedule a meeting, send your inquiry.