The hi-tech optical sorting of potatoes at the Branston packhouse near Lincoln is bringing all-round gains not only for the company and its customers but also for growers.
Branston, one of the UK's leading potato marketing and packing companies, invested £2 million in an advanced grading system using colour and infra-red technology to identify surface defects on potatoes from scab and scurf to bruising, greening, mechanical damage and rots.
Anxious to use the latest technology to maintain a competitive advantage — but equally to handle the crop with a delicate touch — they turned to a leading manufacturer of fresh fruit sorting equipment to develop a system for potatoes.
They visited the French company of Maf-Roda at Montauban, near Toulouse, in the south west of France to see techniques used to grade crops such as tomatoes, peaches and apricots. They then worked with the company and its UK distributors, Tong Peal, to modify the design to suit potatoes.
The new equipment was brought into operation just in time for the hectic Christmas period — Branston is the biggest supplier of fresh potatoes to Tesco — and it is paying dividends all round.
"The ability for us to react quickly to changes in Tesco's requirements is imperative" says Jo Parish, Tesco account director at Branston. "Sales patterns may change with very little notice because of weather patterns or promotional activity. This equipment allows us to manipulate our output to meet this change in demand quicker and more accurately than ever before"
"Equally our growers are likely to benefit in the longer term too. More accurate grading of each sample means that human error is minimised, providing the potential to sell more of the crop at a higher value, delivering fairer returns to our growers.'
Twin optical grading lines enable Branston to handle up to 50 tonnes an hour. The computer program assesses individual tubers according to colour, size, shape and weight as they pass under the cameras, and they can be routed into one of ten outlets.
"Optical sorting has already made an impact on grading onions and is bringing a new dimension to potato packing with its speed, accuracy and equally important careful handling," says Barry Ledger, sales manager of Tong Peal. "In addition to the immediate labour saving, it is enabling Branston to double the previous grading capacity in the same floor area."
