Raisin production leader Osman Akça a.?. is the first in Turkey to own the new TOMRA 5C sorting machine

Since starting in the 1970s, Osman Akça A.?. has continually expanded the volumes handled by its raisin processing business. Since 1996 the company has set new industry standards using the most up-to-date sorting solutions offered by TOMRA FOOD. Today, operating as part of the Akça Holding group of businesses, Osman Akça is among the industry's leaders, with annual dried fruit exports worth $50 million. Osman Akça runs a raisin processing facility in Manisa Province and a dried fruit plant in Ayd?n Province, which processes apricots, dates, plums, and mainly figs. Fourteen TOMRA Food sorters are installed in these two facilities and play an essential role in the operations' efficiency and product quality. The Osman Akça A.?. Raisin Processing Plant, in the town of Saruhanli, is built over a total area of 60,000 square meters, with 40,000 square-meters indoors. This produces 20,000 to 30,000 tons of raisins every year. The vast majority of this production, 90 percent, is exported, primarily to European Union countries, and the remaining 10 percent sold to the domestic market. Some 15 percent of the company's exported products are directly consumed, 85 percent used in patisserie and bakery applications. Yalç?n ?skeçeli, General Manager of Osman Akça A.?., said, “Employing state-of-the-art technologies for high-quality and high-capacity production has been crucial to Turkey's success in this industry. In fact, Turkey has passed the United States to become the largest raisin exporter globally. Mr. ?skeçeli commented: "At Osman Akça, we have fought our way to leadership by constantly attaching great importance to quality in raisin production. We have been tapping into advanced technologies provided by TOMRA Food for 25 years. Our production technology allows us to achieve superior quality output with high food safety and to grow our exports to the European market consistently." Product quality of paramount importance in food exportsConsumption of raisins is three times higher in Europe than in Turkey, and as shoppers have turned to foods that can boost the immune system during the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for raisins has increased. To supply growing export markets, Yalç?n ?skeçeli explained, Osman Akça must attain consistently high product standards. Mr. ?skeçeli said: "Turkey has top-quality raw products and the production facilities here are well-developed, with high-end mechanical and optical sorting systems. Optical sorting machines play a significant role in enabling us to penetrate even the most challenging export markets. In the past, conventional production lines with multiple sorters had to reprocess the product three or four times to achieve the desired quality, but this no longer efficient. In Turkey and globally, it is now more important than ever to achieve efficient and consistent production, reducing labor and operational costs while maintaining product quality. "This is why we opted for the TOMRA 5C optical sorter - it takes us to higher levels in quality and capacity. By positioning this machine at the end of the production line, we can improve our product quality by capturing the details that other laser systems overlook. We also like the fact that the TOMRA 5C is futureproofed to be compatible with possible future innovations in optical technologies and software. This will be an investment with a long-lasting payback." TOMRA 5C is industry-leadingTo ensure the most accurate foreign material removal, the TOMRA 5C combines industry-leading sensor technologies with machine learning and big data analytics. High-resolution lasers and latest-generation sensors enable the TOMRA 5C to see and analyze the tiniest defects, which other machines would miss. The TOMRA 5C is also notable for its labor-saving hygienic design: the machine's working surfaces are curved, minimal and easily accessible for easy cleaning and maintenance.  Mr. ?skeçeli says that the plant in Saruhanli employs 300 people and processes 200 tons of raisins daily. He explains: "At the first stage, we use advanced mechanical pre-cleaning. This removes impurities and foreign materials and grades the raisins by size. After going through X-ray and sensor-based TOMRA sorters, products are packaged in line with customer requests. We have small packages of 25 grams to one kilogram and large packages of 10 to 15 kilograms. We send small packages to groceries and big packages to industrial clients. "Whereas we used to take samples of a maximum size of 100 grams for quality checks, we are now able to analyze 12.5-kilogram packs. Quality improvements have been made possible by technological progress. By investing in TOMRA systems, we can achieve high final product quality with increased efficiency and capacity, and our operational facility does not need to reprocess the product." The TOMRA 5C redefines processingAhmet Koçyi?it, Sales Manager for TOMRA Food Turkey, said: "With the TOMRA 5C, we offer the latest technologies to make sorting more efficient and cost-effective. This sorter addresses the biggest challenges faced by the dried fruit and nut industry: labor, food safety, capacity, and product quality. The TOMRA 5C allows operators to see foreign materials and quality defects with a level of success that previously wasn't possible. This enables the processing of the highest pack-to-grade product quality in high quantities while minimizing dependency on manual labor and reducing food waste. Processors are making savings from reprocessing, handling, and labor costs." Promoting organic productionIn response to increasing demand, Osman Akça A.?. is setting higher volume targets for organic raisins. Production has risen from 20 to 4,500 tons per year, and demand for organic products is expected to keep on rising. This brings new challenges compared to non-organic crops because before they are processed, organic crops contain far greater amounts of stones and foreign material. But Mr. ?skeçeli is confident Osman Akça has the solution: "This is another example of how cutting-edge technology is crucial in product processing, and how TOMRA can help." About TOMRA FoodTOMRA Food designs and manufactures sensor-based sorting machines and integrated post-harvest solutions for the food industry, using the world's most advanced grading, sorting, peeling and analytical technology. Over 8,000 units are installed at food growers, packers, and processors worldwide for fruits, nuts, vegetables, potato products, grains and seeds, dried fruit, meat and seafood. The company's mission is to enable its customers to improve returns, gain operational efficiencies, and ensure a safe food supply via smart, useable technologies. To achieve this, TOMRA Food operates centers of excellence, regional offices and manufacturing locations within the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia. TOMRA Food is a member of the TOMRA Group founded in 1972 that began with the design, manufacture and sale of reverse vending machines (RVMs) for automated collection of used beverage containers. Today TOMRA provides technology-led solutions that enable the circular economy with advanced collection and sorting systems that optimize resource recovery and minimize waste in the food, recycling and mining industries. TOMRA has ~100,000 installations in over 80 markets worldwide and had total revenues of ~9,3 billion NOK in 2019. The Group employs ~4,500 globally and is publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: TOM). Pictures1. Yalc??n I?skec?eli, General Manager Osman Akc?a A.S?. 2. Ahmet Koc?yig?it, Area Sales Manager at TOMRA Food and Yalc??n I?skec?eli, General Manager Osman Akça3.-5. TOMRA Food and Osman Akc?a - Visual