Major Australian citrus producer and marketer Seven Fields has begun work on a packing facility upgrade that will allow it to handle increased production in the Sunraysia region.
'The packing shed has been primarily designed to handle the explosion of mandarins that will come into production in the Sunraysia region over the next few years,” the group’s managing director Greg McMahon said.
“The special design features mean it will be able to handle the softer citrus varieties, like mandarins, much more gently and with the proper treatments; and do it without compromising the speed and efficiency demanded by the modern marketplace. All other citrus varieties will be accommodated just as easily,' he added.
Allan Dean of New Zealand based company Falcon Engineering will manage the upgrade. Falcon Engineering has been involved in the design and construction of numerous citrus, stonefruit and apple packing lines in Australia and New Zealand. It was Falcon’s expertise in the soft citrus packing lines in Queensland that led Seven Fields to recruit Dean. 'It’s an exciting project Seven Fields have embarked upon, and one that gives me the opportunity to bring together all of the aspects of efficient production lines with future-proof post-harvest treatment facilities that I have seen around the world and installed in Australasia,' said Dean.
French company MAF Agrobotic was chosen to supply the packing machinery. The group's director Thomas Blanc said the upgrade would allow the company to showcase its services in Australia. 'The Seven Fields project is very important for MAF Agrobotic as it gives us the opportunity to partner with a company that is looking for a complete solution for citrus packing in Australia that will showcase the sort of progressive thinking MAF has been advocating for some time in other parts of the world,' he said.
“The design we have developed with Seven Fields includes a two-stage packing line where fruit is pre-graded and pre-sized on one line, and then packed on the second line. Throughout the process there are multiple quality checks, and most importantly the two stage line permits greater flexibility in the orchard and a shorter time to deliver product to customers.'
Seven Fields has been offeredA$500,000 (US$495,000) infinancial assistance from the Victorian Government under the Victorian Business Flood Recovery Fund.
