Specialist packaging equipment supplied by Marco is playing a vital role at The Co-operative Group’s newly commissioned strawberry packing plant at Longforgan, near Dundee.
The equipment installed included Marco’s Trac-IT data management system, Linemaster checkweighers, in-feed and out-feed conveyor systems, a high-speed twin top labelling machine and end-of-line packaging equipment.
The new plant represents a total investment of more than £2 million and has been specifically built to pack local Grown by Us strawberries from the group’s own farm at Blairgowrie.
The new Longforgan plant has a seasonal throughput capacity of around 800 tonnes, equating to more than three million punnets.
Marco has extensive experience in the design of packhouse solutions and has developed innovative technologies to optimise yield control and ensure line control labelling parameters are strictly adhered to.
By constantly monitoring each and every pack weight, the Marco system can fine tune settings to consistently maintain target weights within fractions of a gram.
Rob Hull, The Co-operative Farms’ head of vegetable operations, said: “The Longforgan plant is a welcome addition to our extensive operations in Scotland. This investment will help us to ensure we can get fresh strawberries, grown on our own farm, into our shops and on to our customers as efficiently as possible.”
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