UNITEC helps Chilean cherries

The UNITEC Team, also thanks to the UNITEC Chile branch, is working in partnership with Its Customers to guarantee the elevated quality standards required by the market.

UNITEC’s technological solutions, together with the constant work of its Team in Chile, allow Its Customers to confidently face one of the most complex cherry campaigns of the last years.

Despite climate change bringing a rainy winter and a spring with volatile temperatures, a record season was still expected for the South American country's cherry export, this was a result of the progressive increase in the areas invested and despite the expected reduction in yields. However, the weather stuck his hand in the harvest stage too, with intense and prolonged rainfall that caused enormous damage to the product in all production areas, therefore the estimates of marketable production are being revised from week to week.

What is even more serious is that all harvested lots show significant damage, even up to 70% of the total, which took by surprise a productive system that had never seen such a negative impact on the quality of the harvested product in the last four years. In these conditions, it was even more necessary for the Chilean industry of cherries to have a quality selection system UNITEC CHERRY Vision 3. This system guarantees compliance with the very high-quality standards required by the main destination area of the Chilean cherries, that is, the Far East.

However, in this field, in addition to adequate and efficient technologies like those provided by UNITEC, it is equally vital (for warehouses engaged in cherry post-harvest handing) to have the possibility to rely on a timely service, to set the software to the new conditions, thus ensuring a timely result in line with needs.

On this crucial and strategic aspect, thanks to its Chilean branch that now has 70 professionals on site and an equal number of specialized technicians in support from the company's headquarters, since the beginning of the campaign UNITEC has made its experience, innovation and expertise, gained over 100 years, available to its Chilean Customers. The UNITEC Team is, indeed, constantly committed to support the Chilean industry of cherries in this central stage of the export period. This important effort has been strategic in order not to compromise the results related to the percentage of products suitable for export that is, the share of product still suitable for distant markets.

It would have been impossible to achieve these results (in these very difficult conditions) without the automated and reliable solutions developed and implemented by UNITEC. In addition to the usual work of supporting Customers in the start-up phase of the installations, which is normally a race against time, this season there was the need for an additional setting to cope with the exceptional situation, which the UNITEC team once again managed to provide solid, reliable and therefore successful answers for its Customers.

Nour Abdrabbo, Director of the Unitec Chile branch and Commercial Director of the Group, says:

“The Unitec Team is committed daily to supporting Our Customers in this difficult season. Every year, we at UNITEC approach the cherry campaign in Chile like a Formula 1 race, for which we prepare with dedication through punctual maintenance work and putting in lots and lots of innovation every year. We want to get there trained and ready for the start, where our Team faces every challenge that comes its way with promptness, focus, and passion".

This is because we set ourselves only one goal: to win together with our Customers and to overcome difficulties by bringing them the best possible result given the starting conditions. So, for us at UNITEC, winning means making Our Customers and the Chilean industry in general win”.

Besides the challenges, this campaign was also characterized by introducing important innovations in the range of integrated solutions that UNITEC makes available to the Chilean cherry industry. First of all, with the development of robotized solutions in the supply chain to increasingly automate the process, and most of all, with the introduction of an absolute novelty at the end of the line, which is the automatic sealing machine of the bags that contain the cherries UNI Smart Seal. UNI Smart Seal now represents the state of the art in this delicate stage and provides important support to the 14 warehouses that have opted for it, as it reduces the need for workforce on the line by combining a drastic reduction in fruit handling, an improvement in the precision of operations and high productivity (up to 14 crates per minute). This results in an improvement in the quality of the packages and an important increase in efficiency in this phase of the handling process.

A solution that fully reflects UNITEC-style, a style that stems from a deep connection with the market and its Customers, facing together their difficulties and needs and providing quick and tangible answers in the mutual spirit of ensuring quality consistent with the end consumer's expectations.

Unitec, we work for your results.