TOMRA SORTING FOOD heads to Germany to target agricultural market

TOMRA Sorting Food will be showcasing its Field Potato Sorter at AGRITECHNICA 2015, the world’s largest trade fair for agricultural machinery and equipment, located in Hannover, Germany. From 10 – 14 November, experts from TOMRA will be located at booth 24 B07 to assist farmers, growers and producers looking to enhance their sorting process efficiency. The Field Potato Sorter (FPS) is a sensor-based food sorting machine for unwashed potatoes, removing large soil clumps, stones and other foreign material at the earliest opportunity in the sorting process. The state-of-the-art system offers growers significantly reduced labour and storage costs and ensures a smoother, more efficient sort further down the production line, increasing product quality and yield. The FPS is unique as it is the first successful optical sorting solution in the industry that processes all types of unwashed potatoes. The machine is fitted with TOMRA’s BSI (Biometric Signature Identification) technology which identifies and compares the physical characteristics of good product and defects, and sorts according to these clear patterns. Also on display is TOMRA’s new touchscreen interface which now features easy to use quick change controls and accept/reject stream data. Steve Raskin, TOMRA Sorting Food sales director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), says: “We are looking forward to showcasing the superior abilities of the Field Potato Sorter when compared to standard mechanical sorting systems to such a large audience. “The robust, waterproof and user-friendly machine is compact and available in various widths to fit all specific capacities up to 70,000 kilos an hour. It is compatible with other potato grading equipment but can also be used on its own to sort harvested potatoes, before or after storage.”  TOMRA Sorting Food is a leading provider of sensor-based food sorting machines and processing technology for the fresh and processed food industries. Its cutting edge innovations help processors meet exacting food safety regulations and make for a smart business investment, ensuring an efficient production line operation, optimizing throughput and yield, whilst minimizing downtime and labor costs. Using a variety of sensors, which go far beyond the common use of colour cameras, the sorters can detect the smallest defect or foreign material. Near Infra-Red (NIR) spectroscopy enables an analysis of the molecular structure of a product whilst x-rays, fluorescent lighting and lasers measure the elemental composition of objects. The internal composition and surface structure of objects can also be analyzed to determine good or bad produce. For more information, visit www.tomra.com/food About TOMRA Sorting FoodTOMRA Sorting Food, formerly BEST and ODENBERG, designs and manufactures sensor-based sorting machines for the food industry. Over 8,700 systems are installed at food growers, packers and processers worldwide. The company provides high-performance optical sorters, graders, peeling and process analytics systems for nuts and seeds, dried fruits, potato products, fruits, vegetables, meat and seafood. The systems ensure an optimal quality and yield, resulting in increased productivity, throughput and an effective use of resources. TOMRA Sorting Food is part of TOMRA Sorting Solutions which also develops sensor-based systems for the recycling, mining and other industries. This powerful combination of technologies makes TOMRA Sorting one of the most advanced providers of sensor-based sorting solutions in the world, with over 13,500 of its systems installed globally. TOMRA Sorting is owned by Norwegian company TOMRA Systems ASA, which is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Founded in 1972, TOMRA Systems ASA has a turnover around €550m and employs over 2,400 people. For more information on TOMRA Sorting Food visit www.tomra.com/food