TOMRA Food to share expert insights at World Avocado Congress

TOMRA Food will play a major role in next month’s World Avocado Congress, as the globe-trotting event makes its first appearance in New Zealand (The Aotea Centre, Auckland, 2-5 April). Supporting the Congress as a Gold Sponsor, TOMRA will host a pre-congress networking event at its premises in Auckland and host an Innovation Breakfast, with a presentation on artificial intelligence, at the Aotea Centre. TOMRA will also showcase its latest advances in post-harvest technology and present an academic paper regarding measurement methods for improving product quality. The tenth edition of the World Avocado Congress has the theme “Respectful: Respect for people, respect for the environment, and respect for our future.” These values closely align with TOMRA’s vision to lead the resource revolution by making every resource count. The Congress is expected to attract as many as 1,500 specialists – growers, packers, retailers, importers, academics, and industry association representatives – from more than 30 nations around the world. The four-day event will feature an exhibition, trade show, and academic sessions sharing insights into industry issues and trends. During the weekend before the Congress, delegates will have the opportunity to tour part of New Zealand’s North Island to see avocado packhouses in action and talk with their owners and operators. TOMRA’s sensor-based sorting and grading machines are used by many avocado packhouses in New Zealand, where TOMRA Food’s Fresh Food business area originated, and an increasing number of packhouses worldwide. TOMRA events and presentations before and during the CongressOn Friday, 31 March, three days before the Aotea Centre opens its doors to congress delegates, TOMRA Food will welcome guests to a networking event at its premises in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga. These will include TOMRA’s New Zealand and international customers, business partners, avocado industry stakeholders, congress speakers, and New Zealand government representatives. This networking event will be hosted by TOMRA’s senior leadership team in New Zealand, with brief speeches given by Paul Slupecki, Head of TOMRA Fresh Food, and Jacinto Trigo, TOMRA’s Global Category Director for Avocados. When the Congress opens on Sunday, 2 April, one of the first things visitors will see is TOMRA’s exhibition stand in the main foyer of the Aotea Centre. This will spotlight various post-harvest solutions for avocado packers and demonstrate the new Adaptive Rate Controller (ARC). The ARC maintains consistent fruit volume on the packing line to optimize sorter input by continuously counting fruit on a roller elevator and autonomously adjusting infeed speed. This is made possible by an infeed-mounted camera and pre-trained AI models. Artificial Intelligence will also be showcased at the TOMRA Food Innovation Breakfast in the Aotea Centre’s Waihorotiu Room on Wednesday 4 April. The company’s Head of Innovation, James French, will give a presentation that starts by asking, “What sort of impact will Artificial Intelligence have on the food industry?” James will review how AI is already making a positive difference in day-to-day operations at food packhouses and processors before discussing how AI will become increasingly important to the food industry in the near future. TOMRA Food’s world-class expertise will also be shared with congress delegates by the company’s Inspection Science Manager, Robert Valkenburg. With a focus on product quality, Robert will present an academic paper that compares methods for rapid non-destructive and destructive measurement of dry matter, firmness, and rot in Hass Avocados. TOMRA’s avocado solutionsTOMRA’s innovative, industry-leading solutions for avocado packhouse operations (and for citrus fruit and apples) include the TOMRA 5S Advanced sorting and sizing platform, the Spectrim sorter and grader, and the Inspectra² grading system. The TOMRA 5S Advanced, which first became available in 2021, builds on the class-leading performance of Compac's Multi-Lane Sorter (TOMRA acquired Compac in 2016), but was redesigned from the ground up. As its name suggests, this is the fruit industry’s most advanced sorting platform. The software features provide for optimization and efficiency across the line, improving productivity, quality, and efficiency. These include programs for element mixing, exact packout optimization, throughput control, and a Dynamic Lane Balancer. All these programs are easily controlled via the sorter’s intuitive graphic user interface. Unrivaled efficiencies are made possible by the machine’s specialized software features and connectivity to the cloud-based customer portal and data platform TOMRA Insight, which can make sorting machines the digital heart of packhouse operations. This enables better, data-driven decisions and futureproofs packhouse businesses to meet the industry’s evolving needs. TOMRA Insight also enables better flow of information up and down the supply chain and opens a pathway to traceability from bin to pack – exactly the kind of thing consumers want to see when questioning where an avocado has come from. When using Spectrim, the avocados are sorted according to color and surface blemishes. Then the fruit can be graded for size and minor to major defects, including skin blemishes, insect damage, misshapen fruit, bruising and abrasions. Spectrim’s sorting parameters can be configured to grade for differing levels of defects, so that there’s full control when matching product grades to different markets. Inspectra² is a non-invasive solution for internal grading, particularly for dry matter content. This platform’s near-infrared spectrometer can detect dry matter content, fruit by fruit. By utilizing these capabilities, avocado packhouses can eliminate some of their toughest daily operational challenges, enhance efficiencies and profitability, and provide customers with precisely the product quantity and quality they’ve asked for. And in a world where the market value of food brands depends mostly on intangible assets, including brand equity, packhouses can also help customers protect their brand reputations. About TOMRA FoodTOMRA Food designs and manufactures sensor-based sorting machines and integrated post-harvest solutions transforming global food production to maximize food safety and minimize food loss, by making sure Every Resource Counts.  The company has more than 12,800 units installed at food growers, packers and processors around the world for Confectionery, Fruit, Dried fruit, Grains and Seeds, Potatoes, Proteins, Nuts, and Vegetables.  These solutions include advanced grading, sorting, peeling and analytical technology to help businesses improve returns, gain operational efficiencies, and ensure a safe food supply.  TOMRA Food operates centers of excellence, regional offices and manufacturing locations within the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia.  Follow TOMRA Food on Facebook @TOMRA.Food, Twitter @TOMRAFood, Instagram @TOMRAFood and on LinkedIn at TOMRA Food.   TOMRA Food is a division of TOMRA Group. TOMRA was founded in 1972 that began with the design, manufacturing and sale of reverse vending machines (RVMs) for automated collection of used beverage containers.   Today, TOMRA is leading the resource revolution to transform how the planet’s resources are obtained, used and reused to enable a world without waste. The company’s other business divisions comprise TOMRA Recycling, TOMRA Mining and TOMRA Collection.   TOMRA has approximately 100,000 installations in over 80 markets worldwide and had total revenues of ~10.9 billion NOK in 2021. The Group employs ~4,600 globally and is publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company headquarters are in Asker, Norway.  For further information about TOMRA, visit www.tomra.com