Flower power
Perfotec has unveiled what it claims is a first that will revolutionise the long-distance transport of cutflowers. According to Siva Shankaran, vice president business development at manufacturer Uflex, the company has developed a new material that will enable flowers to be transported without water for as long as a week and still have the same shelf life in the shop.
The 100 per cent biodegradable material is being touted as “the first completely sustainable solution” and “the holy grail of packaging” for flowers.
Sunshine logistics
Australian manufacturer Heuch has developed a solar-powered refrigerated container. The CSC-plated containers are easily transported, and once unloaded the solar array is fully deployed with the unit running in under 15 minutes. The solar chillers can be placed directly at harvest point, and the batteries offer 24 hours of operation with no fuel, generator or grid connection required. The products are being promoted in Europe by Dutch firm BG Door.
Contain yourself
Turkish plastic container and pallet specialist Benoplast has introduced its new Benocon containers. The 100 by 120cm Benocon containers are described as offering ergonomic, versatile, safe and smooth operation, as well as being sturdy enough to withstand extreme conditions and perforated to operate at low temperatures through easy ventilation.
Shinier veg
Haith has relaunched its rootveg polisher with a series of new features. They include full-length vertical doors with RFID protection; automatic roller reversing; twin spray bars for fresh and recycled water; a wide in-feed chute for large product; Kevlar barrel drive belts for low maintenance and silent running; Cooper split bearings for extended life; high-efficiency sew motors; an air-operated adjustable crop control door; split brush roller drive coupling; and an electrical slip ring for improved water protection and performance.
Chainless fruit grading
Maf Roda has developed a prototype chainless grader for circular fruit such as apples and citrus. Uniway has a patent pending and is described as ideal for smaller producers. It features V-shaped belts for fruit alignment; recycling on the pre-aligner and fruit synchronisation with sizer pitch. The machine accepts fruit in diameter from 35 to 120mm, has speeds up to 900 hands per minute, and rotates for optical sizing.
Automatic lettuceproduction
Harvest Automation from Dutch firm Hortiplan made it to the final 10 in the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award 2016. The machine can automatically grow, harvest and pack green salads, with lettuce automatically lifted out of the seed rail, cut, and packed into crates.
Superior sorting
Unitec showcased its Unical_200 Cherry machine at Fruit Logistica, an electronic sorter for the processing of small, delicate products such as cherries and cherry tomatoes. The sorter is equipped with Cherry_Vision, which allows the non-destructive detection of
external and internal quality of cherries.
The machine adds to a range of existing quality-detection machines manufactured by Unitec, including Apple Vision, Vision Kiwi, Apricot Vision, Vision Plum, and Blueberry Vision.
Packer visibility
Marco has developed software that allows users to display staff performance levels on a big screen in the packhouse. Racheting up the levels of packhouse visibility with the aim of boosting worker productivity, the technology allows everybody to see the number of packs per minute completed by each operator, and even has failsafes to prevent individuals cheating the system.
“This level of visibility is vital, especially in short-season produce when you can’t afford anything to interrupt the process,” says Marco managing director Mandy Hart. Further new software, called the Yield Control Module, allows managers to monitor how much waste each packer generates.
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