Serkka Farms, Canada, ?We have seen our labor cost decrease by 90 percent?

Serkka Farms is family owned and operated, and was established in 1987 by the Belgian Allaer Family. Serkka Farms’ field stretches out over more than 2000 hectares where they grow a wide variety of products such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, grains, soy beans and oil seeds. As well as this, the company is also a well-known turkey producer. By automating its tomato processing lines with TOMRA’s NFM field sorting machines, Serkka Farms was able to increase its output enormously and watch labor cost drop dramatically. In 1947, the late Gaston Allaer immigrated to Canada with his entire family from East Flanders, Belgium. Gaston and his family brought with them a solid agricultural background and a strong work ethic which led them to settle and begin farming in Wallaceburg, Ontario. In the late eighties, his three sons took over and since then, the company has continuously grown and diversified its operation to meet the daily needs and demands of its customers. Today Serkka Farms employs 35 people. “At Serkka Farms we aim to meet the demands of our customers with top quality products, which is why we continuously invest in innovative solutions and sustainable farm practices,” explains Eric Allaer, President at Serkka Farms (picture). The company strives to create a healthy balance between maximum production and respect for the land, the reason it went looking for an optical sorting solution that corresponds with that vision.   DECREASING LABOR COSTS BY 90 PERCENT Commenting on the machine, Eric says: “TOMRA’s NFM sorters support us in our mission to provide reliable high quality tomato products. On top of that, we can count on excellent support from their sales and service team, ensuring that the machines always run in the most efficient way, limiting our production costs. “By implementing the two machines, we have seen our labor cost decrease by 90 percent. Moreover, we were able to increase our output per hour by up to 400 tons a day during high season. This enabled our tomato business to expand 35 times more than we would have done with manual sorting techniques. That’s a double payback,” adds Eric. “TOMRA’s NFM sorting machines provide excellent sorting, even in the most difficult environments due to dirt, dust and vibration. The NFM can deal with hot, cold and wet weather, while maintaining the quality of the tomato harvest and without damaging the produce. “At Serkka Farms we are always exploring new harvesting techniques that could further optimize our processing lines and strengthen our battle skills in this competitive global market. In our continued research we can count on TOMRA’s and Pik Rites expertise to support us with our search of new innovations making us the best.” About TOMRATOMRA Sorting Solutions Food unites two strong brands in the food industry to become the leading provider of sensor based sorting, peeling and processing technology for the fresh and processed food industries. Turning yield into usage, profits into progress, TOMRA transforms the way the world obtains, uses, and reuses its resources.