"Ready-to-eat products must have a sustainable costs, which cannot be achievable if all operations are carried out by hand. Our machine computerizes and facilitates the sorting phase, thus saving time and labor hours while respecting the quality of ripe fruit," explains manager Nicola Antonacci.
The grader is of the circular type meaning that, if a fruit is not taken by the operator, it continues to circulate until it's chosen. Loading is manual, so delicate fruits such as persimmons, pears, ripe peaches, large apricots or nashi pears do not get damaged.
Unloading is manual, operators just need to take the single fruits and place them in cells. A light identifies the grades required and the software enables to select fruit by weight, grade and color.
"Error margins are close to zero as the light only turns on when the fruit is in front of the operator. In addition, different stations have different color codes," adds Antonacci.
Speed is high, almost as a traditional sorter but, in this case, there is no rolling as it would ruin the fruit.
"One machine is about to leave for Spain and another will soon be installed in a large Italian company working with persimmons. Other ones have already been installed at Cooperativa Albifrutta in Costigliole di Saluzzo and at Trydeca in Centallo, both in Cuneo."
"Being able to provide consumers with fruit that is ready to eat gives great satisfaction. We keep on experimenting and designing so as to meet operator demands also when it comes to other types of fruit."
