Citrus producer Sunriver Citrus significantly increases sorting efficiency with consistently high quality grading with TOMRA 5S Advanced and Dynamic Lane Balancer

Sunriver Citrus is a leading citrus producer and exporter based in the Sundays River Valley in South Africa. It grows mandarins, clementines, lemons, Valencia oranges and navel oranges on its farms in Kirkwood, Sunland and Addo. The company takes pride in farming, harvesting and packaging all its fruit, which it sells on the domestic and export markets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Southern Africa. Since 1937, it has built a reputation for excellent quality, and is accredited and associated with strategic distribution and quality assurance partners around the world, such as Costco Wholesale, the BRCGS Global Standard for Food Safety, SIZA social compliance, and South Africa's Official Perishable Produce Export Certification Agency.

Sunriver Citrus currently processes around 84,000 tons annually in its three packhouses. It has experienced fast growth in the past 7 years and expects this trend to continue. In 2018, it introduced the first TOMRA 5S Advanced sorter. Theunis Bester, Production Manager at Surinver Citrus, explains:

“We had a lot of growth, and we needed sorters that deliver consistent grading to supply a perfect product. Our vision is that in years to come there will be a high demand for citrus, but we at Sunriver want to be leaders in supplying good quality.”

The TOMRA 5S Advanced sorter impressed Theunis Bester with its performance:

“We used to have issues with light blemish sorting before we installed the TOMRA sorter, now we don’t battle it anymore. We are packing better quality fruit because of the consistent good grading, and this good quality helped build our brand in the markets.”

Motivated by the results achieved, Sunriver Citrus replaced sorters in the other two packhouses with a second TOMRA 5S Advanced in 2023 and, in 2024, a third one equipped with the new Dynamic Lane Balancer. Theunis Bester says:

“I think TOMRA have the best sorter in the world, and their technicians are always there to assist us. I didn’t even ask for quotes on other sorters for the last two projects”.

Sunriver Citrus is now operating a TOMRA 5S Advanced sorter in each of its three packhouses to Theunis Bester’s great satisfaction:

“TOMRA has certainly increased our sorting efficiency. The sorters have had no mechanical problems and reduced a lot of downtime and sorting labor – and with the performance they deliver, we need almost no manual sorting. TOMRA has increased our returns based on the good quality grading, and there is a demand for our Sunriver brand across the world.”

Unrivaled accuracy, high throughput, consistently high-quality grading

TOMRA Food’s partner in South Africa, Masgcor, advised Sunriver Citrus and installed the lines in its
three packhouses. Gerhard Verster, General Manager at Masgcor, explains:

“Each packhouse has a Masgcor citrus processing and packing line where the TOMRA sorters form the main electronic sorting platform in a commit-to-pack layout”.

The TOMRA 5S Advanced sorter builds on the class-leading performance of the Compac Multi-Lane Sorter to deliver unrivaled accuracy and the industry’s gentlest fruit handling. Its specialized software features programs for element mixing, exact packout optimization, and throughput control, providing high efficiency across the line. Gerhard Verster says:

“The TOMRA 5S Advanced stands out for its reliability and accuracy. It can handle superior volumes and delivers consistent superior quality to consumers”.

The sorters’ ability to optimize packout is instrumental in Sunriver Citrus’s success in the international markets. Theunis Bester explains:

“We have the right quality in the cartons for the right markets”.

Maximum cup fill across lanes for high throughput and packout results

Sunriver Citrus prides itself on innovation – for example, it was the first company in South Africa to use skid steer loaders in the fruit picking process. Its innovative nature came to the fore when equipping the third packhouse, opting for a TOMRA 5S Advanced with a Dynamic Lane Balancer – the first to be installed in the country. Theunis Bester says:

“The first reason for installing it was to address space limitations in our new packhouse, and to push the volumes through without having bottlenecks at the sorter by ensuring even spreads on the lanes”.

The Dynamic Lane Balancer automatically optimizes the flow of fruit on the sorter to ensure an equal distribution across all lanes. It constantly makes automatic adjustments based on data from its interface with the sizer software. Gerhard Verster explians:

“There is less than 5% difference in cup fill between different lanes, which means more effective and superior throughputs”. 

Theunis Bester concludes:

“We have a more even spread on sizer lanes, and this enables us to push more volumes. We achieve 10% more volume on packing per day, and the sorter can run slower because of the good spread on the lanes”.

As a result of this performance, Sunriver Citrus is planning to install Dynamic Lane Balancers in its other packhouses.

About TOMRA Food

TOMRA 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 TM .

The company has more than 13,800 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, X @TOMRAFood, Instagram @TOMRAFood, LinkedIn at TOMRA Food and YouTube 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 are TOMRA Recycling and TOMRA Collection.

TOMRA has approximately 105,000 installations in over 100 markets worldwide and had total revenues of about 14.8 billion NOK in 2023. The Group employs 5,000 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.