Following TOMRA Food’s participation in Propak Africa 2019, one of the leading exhibitions for the packaging and processing exhibition, Norman Smith, area sales manager at TOMRA Food for South Africa, shares the company’s further expansion plans
Smith said, “Sensor-based technology is capable of processing large volumes of food and helps to identify and reject foreign materials from the process. This increased accuracy and efficiency delivers obvious advantages: our technology reduces food waste to a minimum, increases benefits, and delivers significant time saving compared to manual sorting. TOMRA Food machines are the most efficient way of sorting products and a smart investment.”
South African market
“South Africa offers a world of opportunities. The mechanisation and automatisation of the post-harvest processes is well underway in the country, and the challenge is now to keep the momentum,” Smith noted.
The company aims to enable producers of fresh and processed foods to raise their quality levels. Its sensor-based sorting equipment can be used for a multitude of food applications, from fresh whole products to processed food.
The consumer trend towards healthy eating is boosting the global demand for nuts, and South Africa is among the world’s biggest exporters. A recent boom in demand for macadamias has created new opportunities, which South Africa’s agriculture industry has taken up, with plantings having tripled in the years from 2013 to 2016 and industry projections forecasting a 40 per cent increase of NIS by 2020.
“For the South African producers to take full advantage of this growing market, high processing capacity and product quality will be essential, and TOMRA Food offers the best equipment for them,” explained Norman Smith.
Proving technical assistance
TOMRA Food focuses on designing and manufacturing sorters and graders of many different types and sizes, combining different sorting technologies such as colour cameras, near infra-red (NIR), spectroscopy and laser-detection.
The company aims to enable dried fruit, vegetable, fruit and potato producers to improve accuracy, efficiency and yields. Through digital transformation, data analytics are optimising machine efficiency, reducing operational costs and assisting food traceability.
