Food Customer Stories

Sackett Ranch, a partner to a prominent potato chip producer since the 1960s, placed their trust in TOMRA sorters to help meet strict quality guidelines for potatoes. Since its investment in the TOMRA 3A and the TOMRA 5A potato sorting technology, Sackett Ranch has increased the quality of the potatoes delivered to the potato chip processing plant.

Logofruits' state-of-the-art plant allows them to provide their customer base with quality products fitting every customer's specifications. Thanks to machines such as the KATO 360, LUCAi™, and CURO, their new integrated TOMRA Food sorting and grading line allows them to boost the automatization process of their sorting and packing.

One of Türkiye's leading exporters of fresh fruit and vegetables is strengthening its market position by using line technologies from TOMRA Food.

In a constantly developing market, De Marchi maintains its prominent position by investing in innovative technologies. The company decided to further automate its production line to increase its product quality and yield. Since installing a TOMRA 5B sorting machine in February 2023, there have been clear improvements in product sorting and volumes – results which indicate this partnership has only just begun.

In this Customer Story, we learn more about Agroexport Internacional SA de CV from Mexico. The company was founded in 2002 by Alfredo Rodríguez and his wife Laure Lemus.
Their main focus is almost exclusively Hass Avocados, a variety of avocados with dark-green bumpy skin.
In order to improve efficiency and quality, and to reduce labor, Agroexport was looking for a trustworthy automated solution.

TOMRA Food has a proven track record at the forefront of sorting in a multitude of products with different technologies. The star for this application is TOMRA’s unique Biometric Signature Identification (BSI) technology featured in the TOMRA 5C acquired by Uwafen Seeds, a Chilean company dedicated to the production of high-quality sweet corn seeds. BSI+ detects differences in the chemical composition of sweet corn and dent corn, which is very difficult to distinguish for the human eye, and very complex for grading systems using color cameras or laser technology.

Already highly regarded for its quality standards, this business stepped up a gear by investing in the TOMRA 5B sorter and Orbit Steam Peeler.

At Hove Ter Hille, they wanted to be able to store their potatoes without losing space to foreign material and also be able to do that with fewer personnel. Nowadays, finding people to work in food sorting is almost impossible. If you find personnel, they can't work as fast as a machine, and it's also not affordable.

The TOMRA 3A sorting machine for ground potatoes is an investment that brings all sorts of advantages.

Founded more than 150 years ago in Switzerland, Nestlé started small but would eventually expand to touch the lives of billions every day. Nestlé now has more than 2000 brands, including global icons and local favorites. Their products can be found in 187 countries worldwide - quite an expansion from their humble beginnings producing condensed milk and infant cereal in the Alps.

Product quality, quantities, and consumer satisfaction have all increased since this ambitious business in Hunan Province purchased TOMRA’s state-of-the-art sorting and grading solutions.

Processing many different types of frozen vegetables, this Chinese business has doubled efficiency and increased productivity by adopting two optical sorters, including the laser-equipped TOMRA 5B.

Thanks to TOMRA Food’s sorting and grading technologies, leading Turkish citrus exporter Özler Tarım has improved product quality and doubled capacity in just one year.

Guangxi Guijie Agricultural Development Co. packs and sells fruit from 12 standardized citrus bases on more than 1,300 hectares (3,300 acres) of land in the Guangxi region of south-west China. To upgrade the automation of its packing facilities, Guijie recently installed a state-of the-art 12-lane sorting and packing line which was manufactured and installed by TOMRA Food. This is one of the biggest integrated sorting solutions in China, with the capacity to handle three million pieces of citrus fruit per day during the peak season.

Hume Pack-N-Cool, packer of Zespri Kiwifruit in New Zealand, uses Inspectra's NIR technology to sort and grade based on dry matter and sugar content.

A grower-owned packing house which continues to invest in TOMRA technology to help ensure that their citrus is packed and shipped to protect that just picked freshness.

With 7 unique views of each cherry, InVision2 with TotalView is the only inspection technology capable of inspecting 100% of the surface of the fruit, without blind spots, at full production speeds. Compared to other sorters, TotalView's end-view cameras are located at lower inspection angles and closer to the fruit. This results in superior image quality and improved identification of nose cracks, stem bowl mildew, and suture splits.

At Polehn Farms, they know how a beautiful decluttered cherry makes a difference to the final customer. When the cherries are nicely presented, they are more attractive. And they choose TOMRA's unique technology for cherry cluster separation: The Cascade Singulator, which improves cluster separation, eliminates mechanical damage on fruit, and ensures a better presentation of the final product of our customer Polehn Farms, Oregon, USA.

Agricola El Alamo, located in Chile, discusses their experience with our integrated Blueberry solution.

With TOMRA’s Spectrim system, ACP has increased it’s packout from a maximum of 40 tonnes to 60 tonnes per hour. We are proud to work alongside ACP supporting their vision.

The Ceravolo family has been growing fruit in the Adelaide Hills for three generations. The combination of the Spectrim and Inspectra2 guarantee their customers an excellent quality product.

The Locorotondo-based company, one of Italy’s leading cherry producers, started the 2022 season with a new Invision 2 optical sorter from TOMRA Food, installed at the plant in Turi (Bari). The machine is connected to the Total View Plus digital platform, which can detect a wide range of internal and external fruit defects and monitor the workflow for unprecedented quality.

PEF company is daily committed to satisfying their customers, delivering a great quality product, and increasing their production.

This market leader has found that TOMRA's Blizzard delivers the consistent, dependable product quality its customers demand

Kral Incir, one of the leading exporters of dried figs, achieves high product quality and food safety by using industry-leading TOMRA sorting machines.

Replacing traditional manual sorting methods with a machine has enabled this well-known food producer to meet two key objectives, as well as solving the problem of labor shortages

The Bernard company specializes in the production of seed Potatoes for gardeners, market gardeners, and farmers. The TOMRA 3A optical sorter provides the company with the working power and accuracy to secure operations in the high season and has enabled it to increase its production capacity.

Trypol Pack is a cooperative of Belgian farmers, based in Flanders, specialising in Brussels sprouts. A production they excel in, and now the TOMRA sorting machines will help them to bring European consumers the best quality.

SNOW VALLEY Food is the owner of a leading frozen french fries processing group in Asia. By prioritizing highly efficient Potato processing, SNOW VALLEY has been awarded excellent accreditations and ongoing public praise over the years – complimented by specialized research, delivering consistently high-quality products, and providing better solutions for the Chinese catering industry.

One of the world's leading dried grape processing facilities has benefited greatly since investing in TOMRA Food's innovative new sorting solution.

Harvesting daily in a high-rise building in Singapore, Sustenir Agriculture has enhanced product quality and reduced food waste by using a TOMRA optical sorting machine

Anticipating the need to produce macadamias in even greater quantities while ensuring perfect quality, South African cooperative business Golden Macadamias has invested in a TOMRA 5C sorting machine with Biometric Signature Identification technology.

The Chilean company put its trust on TOMRA Food once again in order to optimize its sorting process and continue to offer premium quality frozen raspberries. Ten years ago, Vitafoods (formerly Hortifrut and Alifrut separately) opted for the brand for its blueberry production and acquired TOMRA technology. On the back of their positive experience, they have opted for the TOMRA 5B, a sorter ideal for products that, like frozen raspberries, require delicate handling and high precision when sorting.

Shandong Santao Food Co., Ltd. is a large food enterprise that incorporates agricultural planting, livestock breeding, food processing and international trade.

WZPOW Kwidzyn is a 100% Polish company with a global reach and vibrant history whose synonymous with processing vegetables. Their Growers' cooperation is fundamental to building a high-quality resource base and allows the homegrown business to compete with the best products available today.[No text in field]

TOMRA’s optical sorting machine enables Turkish business Mapeks Organics to strengthen its position as a high-qulity, high-efficiency exporter

Tech-savvy Californian vegetable processor proves that ‘knowledge is power’ by using data to improve line rates, product quality, yields, and profitability.

Osman Akça A.Ş., the raisin industry leader, never misses the opportunity to benefit from TOMRA Food's new cutting-edge technologies, and has now become the first company in Turkey to purchase the TOMRA 5C sorter.

The Almond Company is the almond handling and processing operation for Harris Family Enterprises, a group of companies dedicated to quality farming and food production. It processes more than 100 million pounds of almonds for domestic and international distribution. The company purchased a TOMRA 5C premium optical sorter which has been operating at its Madera, California facility for the past six months with excellent results.

Gürsoy, one of Turkey's most established hazelnut producers, is the first company in that country to harness the TOMRA 5C’s sorting technologies.

FRESHBERRY is a Russian startup producer of wild-growing berries from Karelia. Its products are exported to the EU market, as well as to China and the USA. Due to the feedstock's specifics and to ensure stable high quality of the final product, the company has purchased TOMRA Food's advanced sorting machines. They enable the output of products with high added value, being in stable demand among foreign customers.

Lamb Weston / Meijer is one of the most recognized companies in the global potato industry, with a rich and starched history. The company's mission - Wellbeing through potatoes - and their customer-focused modus operandi has earned them stripes serving quick service restaurants, large food chains, and retailers all over EMEA.

Installing TOMRA’s Sentinel II sorting machine has enabled the Bolognese company to select large quantities of potatoes – its flagship products – with great precision and minimal waste.

In a booming agribusiness market, TOMRA Food has presented several solutions for the various segments of the food sector in Brazil. The Blizzard machine dedicated to frozen fruit and vegetable processors is the latest addition to its offering.

For two years, SCEA HERMANT carefully considered acquiring a new optical sorter to sort and grade potato and onion crops prior to storage. The launch of the new TOMRA 3A convinced Loïc and Alain Hermant to make the investment. After the machine's first season, they are convinced they made the right decision.

GEO-US WORLD EXPORT is a fast-growing, Georgia-based hazelnut processing company whose business model is built around exporting to Europe. Thanks to high-tech TOMRA Food sorting equipment, this business has been able to increase output and ensure the high quality of its products, critical factors in creating stable demand from European customers.

Traditionally, farmers could plan around what winter, spring, summer, and autumn would bring. They knew which crops to produce, the best time to plant, and who was buying. When it came to the weather, they had a good idea of what conditions to expect each season, literally writing the book on it in their annual publications that even today, are more accurate than the local meteorologist. Even still, the best almanac couldn’t have predicted chapters on unexpected market surges and social distancing protocols.

Bola Surendra Kamath & Sons (BSK) started in the early 1940s when the enterprising Mr. Bola Raghavendra Kamath began trading commodities. He was successful in his business, yet still, a seed had been planted as Bola developed a particular interest in cashews. The years went by, and the seed continued to grow.

Virto Group specializes in frozen vegetables and serves a long list of international clients. Running one of the industry's most technologically advanced facilities has allowed them to plan for the future and lean on automation to serve their customers best.

SA PARMENTINE processes 180,000 tons of potatoes per year, selling three-quarters of these in France and the remainder in other European nations. By operating an integrated upstream-downstream business model, PARMENTINE contracts supplies from farmers who are mostly shareholders in the business.

This is the story of a family farm in the North of France, handed down from father to sons some twenty years ago. Over two decades, the sons have earned a fine reputation in the washed potato business.

The farm of Tremonvilliers (Oise) is equipped since the fall of 2020 with a TOMRA 3A to sort its potato and red beet crops. The TOMRA 3A gives Tremonvillers complete control over their production cycle: adapting to harvest peaks, providing unrivaled sorting quality, and eliminating the need for manual sorting. In addition, TOMRA 3A's payback time is only three year.

LEGUMBRES SELECTAS SIERRA NEVADA, a Spanish company, based in Granada, specializes in producing, processing, and marketing superior quality pulses. It is the Spanish market leader and is one of the top 5 companies on the European market in processing lentils, beans, and its own-production chickpeas. The company has found the Nimbus BSI+ by TOMRA to be the solution to the issues specific to grading pulses.

The Swiss company Kentaur AG, a specialist in cereals processing, has been using a TOMRA 3C optical sorting system to sort puffed grain for a year now. This has resulted in a significant optimization of output: the TOMRA sorter ensures high sorting performance and accuracy and helps Kentaur meet the strictest requirements for food safety and quality. The investment has paid off - since the new system was introduced, there have been very few issues with the puffed grain end products.

Seed producer KWS Sementes based in Patos de Minas, Minas Gerais, is making further significant investments in its seed processing units. With the aim of increasing product quality, the company did not hesitate and chose TOMRA Food to automate its production lines. Seed production is in KWS Sementes’ DNA. It is a company that innovates constantly and, last year, it inaugurated an extension to its plant, which was the first to introduce a horizontal model in the sorting process.

This Denair is a grower and packer of California Almonds, and their customers want the best quality almonds that California has to offer. To get products from the farm to the point on the chain, they looked to TOMRA to improve their volume and operational safety with a tailored solution to their products.

JG Pears is a family business founded in 1972 by Jeff Pears, who has developed it to become a leading processor of animal by-products and food waste in the UK.

Pingdu, a city in Shandong province, enjoys four clear seasons, sufficient sunshine and is one of the three main peanut-producing areas in China. The natural and high-quality raw material found here has seen an influx of peanut processing companies locate to the surrounding areas. Qingdao Jixing Food exports its products to 17 countries including South Korea, Russia, Japan and the United States, gaining recognition for food ‘made in China’ in the international market.

Created in 1984 in Tourville-sur-Odon in the Calvados region (14) by Catherine and Christian Duchemin, Duchemin specialise in potatoes, which they market as the brand La Ferme du Val D’odon. By using the TOMRA 3A high-performance sorting machine, they are able to ensure their potatoes are a premium product.

As a company who take great pride in delivering exceptional quality of both their kernel and in-shell produce, the TOMRA 3C has enabled Laragon to significantly enhance their operation.

Located just north of France, the beautiful British isle of Jersey is home to Britain’s most celebrated potato – the Jersey Royal. The first to harvest every year, this tiny spud heralds the beginning of a new potato season and is famous for its distinctive flavour and nutty taste.

Ardo, a global leader in the deep-frozen vegetables sector has decided to partner with TOMRA Food. Over a quarter of all frozen vegetables consumed in Europe come from the family business in Ardooie. They are used, among other things, in soups, ready-to-eat meals and baby food from large companies such as Unilever and Nestlé.

Swizzels Matlow, a family business that produces sugar confectionery in the United Kingdom, has chosen TOMRA’s Nimbus optical sorter to automate the sorting process of its ‘Drumstick Squashies’ in order to meet fast-growing demand while ensuring the consistently excellent quality of the product.

Morada Produce (Morada Nut) are third generation family farmers from Linden, California. They pack walnuts using TOMRA Nimbus BSI technology to ensure only a safe and quality product makes it to the end consumer.

Prima Frutta are based in Linden, California and pack apples, cherries and walnuts. The family owned company is passionate about delivering quality to their customers and achieve this through their investment in technology. Across their apple and cherry lines, they have partnered with Compac for external and internal inspection technology and TOMRA sorters for their walnuts.

Zeina Foods are a family owned nut packer based in Osset, UK. They're passionate about innovative, tasty and healthy food. Their premium quality Nuts, Seeds and Dried Fruit have been carefully sourced from around the world to meet with the demands of today’s health conscious consumer and have partnered with TOMRA to make sure their customers only get the best product.

TANN Marchtrenk, Austria’s largest producer of meat products, uses the TOMRA QVision as part of its innovative fat analysis. As a result, the in-line fat analysis process is improved and optimized to deliver a uniformly high-quality product. With 1,000 employees, the company produces specialty meat and sausage in six regional plants exclusively for the 1,600 locations of Austrian supermarket, SPAR.

Paturpat, a company specialised in processing and marketing steamed potatoes, has opted for TOMRA's Orbit steam peeler, because of the advantages it offers during the peeling process and to the final result.

From Belgium, family business Begro explains how TOMRA has helped it live up to its motto of 'Great taste in frozen foods'.

Fevita is Hungary's largest frozen food producer and a leading global exporter - with 200+ employees processing more than 32,000 tons of vegetables per annum. The company is expanding into more markets every year, so it is increasingly important that its products meet strict food safety and quality standards for customers worldwide, and partnering with TOMRA ensured that.

Van Roey & Zonen is a family business specialising in the sorting and packing of potatoes and onions. The company has a particular focus on tasty Bintjes and waxy potatoes. Van Roey & Zonen is a family business specialising in the sorting and packing of potatoes and onions. The company has a particular focus on tasty Bintjes and waxy potatoes. High quality is very important to the Van Roey family.

Since 1904, the Andersen family has been farming prunes, walnuts and cattle in the small town of Vina, located in the Northern Sacramento Valley. Four generations later Andersen & Sons is still going strong. After many years of hard work and dedication, this family owned business has grown and evolved. Fourteen years ago, the company made an important decision to focus on the production of walnuts and became the Andersens & Sons Shelling we know today. .

Apetit is a Finnish producer of convenient fresh and frozen vegetable-based products that are healthy, tasty and based on locally sourced raw materials such as potatoes, leeks, carrots, peas, swede, parsnips, celery, beetroot, and spinach. Apetit’s aim is to become the leading brand in frozen vegetable products, frozen ready meals and ready-to-use fresh vegetables.

The installation of QVision equipment in the cold meat production line allows Salaisons Jouvin to ensure consistent and uniform product quality as well as cutting costs, guaranteeing the uniformity demanded by customers in order to satisfy consumers. The TOMRA QVision analyzer for continuous analysis of meat composition ensures higher productivity, complete traceability, consistent product quality, a reduction in human error and smarter purchasing of raw materials.

Lauber Seed Farms is a provider of premium irrigated hybrid seed corn. Located in Geneva, Nebraska, its fertile farm ground sits above the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the world’s largest natural bedrocks which ensures consistent production, regardless of rainfall. In the organization’s quest for continual change and improvement, Lauber Seed Farms has taken a bold step towards innovation by partnering with TOMRA Sorting Food and installing a number of its automatic sorting systems.

Founded in 2005, Jayleaf is a family-run processing and distribution business, supplying certified organic salad mixes and greens to the wholesale and food service sector. Although still a young business, the family behind Jayleaf has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry and the company is quickly earning itself a reputation for excellent quality and customer satisfaction. To further enhance its credentials and deliver outstanding product quality to its customers, Jayleaf partnered with TOMRA Sorting Solutions.

Oerlemans Foods is one of the leading specialists in growing and processing frozen vegetables, potatoes and fruit. Oerlemans joined forces with TOMRA Sorting Solutions and decided to invest in a brand new steam peeling processing line.

Kadi has been an innovative manufacturer of potato products and other frozen foods for the Swiss foodservice since 1951. Enthusiastic chefs create the favorite dishes of the Swiss people daily. It goes without saying that Kadi strives for consistent quality management and want to use the latest technologies and that’s where TOMRA comes into the picture.