Innovative vegetable trimmer installation nearing completion

The installation of WYMA's brand-new parsnip processing line at Frederick Hiam Foods, one of the UK’s leading vegetable processors is well underway.

Showcasing the latest innovation, the line has six Roto-Cut Vegetable Trimmers and Produce Singulators. Our RotoCut Vegetable Trimmers are a soon to be released vegetable trimming system to remove foliage, crowns and tails from vegetables prior to packing or processing. The Produce Singulator is a precursor to the RotoCut, sorting large amounts of produce into single file ready for cutting by the RotoCut blades.

The line will process around 15-20% of the UK's parsnips once it begins production later this month and will boost the factory's output and efficiency, radically improving trimming accuracy, reducing wastage and retail rejections while saving 20% on energy and 30% on water.

Frederick Hiam Foods predicts the automated trimming line will save £500,000 a year on manual labour costs, due to season agency workers becoming increasingly scarce and costly to recruit. For Frederick Hiam it was invest in automation or stop business operations.

While the automation will remove 20 roles previously filled by seasonal agency staff, Managing Director, Jamie Lockhart said full-time employees will be trained to fulfil other roles, including becoming machine technicians rather than machinery operators.