TOMRA Food Unveils New Premium Sorting Machine

TOMRA Food Introduces New Premium Sorting Machine The TOMRA 5C delivers superior sorting efficiency, higher productivity, increased capacity and the benefits of big data analytics for on-line final quality control. TOMRA Food has launched the TOMRA 5C premium sorting machine for frozen vegetables, featuring the company's biometric signature identification technology. The solution was first presented at Fruit Logistica Berlin, the world's leading trade fair for the fresh produce industry. Visitors to the TOMRA stand at the fair also had the opportunity to watch live sorting demonstrations broadcast online from TOMRA's Test Centre in Leuven, Belgium. By installing the TOMRA 5C between the IQF tunnel and the packaging station, final checks for food safety and product quality can be performed with unmatched accuracy. As the frozen product reaches the end of the packaging line, the sorting machine detects and removes remaining foreign material, foreign plant material (FPM) and difficult-to-detect product defects such as stems in green beans and weeds in peas. These detection capabilities significantly reduce consumer complaints and product recall risks in challenging areas, particularly in organic produce which may typically contain unwanted foreign material such as insects, snails, rodents and foreign plant material (FPM). The TOMRA 5C's latest technologies deliver operational advantages alongside contributions to brand reputation and strength. Compared to the previous high-performance Nimbus BSI model, this new machine further increases sorting efficiency and production yield. Maintaining optimal performance becomes easier. The new TOMRA 5C has a more hygienic design that reduces cleaning time by approximately 35 percent compared to Nimbus, and offers 5-10 percent greater sorting capacity. Although the TOMRA 5C was first launched in 2020 for sorting dried fruit and nuts, it was designed from the outset for many different applications, including frozen IQF vegetables and fruits. Following testing with major IQF vegetable and fruit processors in the United States and Europe, the machine is now available for use on IQF lines. Accuracy tests were conducted over an intensive six-week period with machines operating two or more shifts daily and sorting four to five tons of product per hour. Sorting performance was evaluated on more than 20 different uniform and mixed vegetable varieties. Efficiency tests demonstrated consistent perfect results even on vegetables that are traditionally difficult to sort, such as white cauliflower, and on products containing difficult-to-detect foreign material, such as peas with weeds.

Superior Efficiency and Performance

TOMRA 5C's unmatched sorting accuracy is made possible by combining high-resolution lasers with TOMRA's innovative Biometric Signature Identification (BSI) technology. This means every product passing through the line is evaluated not only by colour and shape but also by biometric properties. This next-generation spectral imaging can see inside products on the line by identifying their unique biometric characteristics or "fingerprint". BSI clearly differentiates between good and defective products and can detect even smaller defects than those detected by conventional spectral technology. Efficiency is further increased by connecting to the cloud-based data platform TOMRA Insight. Operators can access live data from the sorting machine to make near-instantaneous improvements in line efficiency. Even when frozen vegetable products are mixed, TOMRA Insight can ensure each package is packed with the correct mixture. Moreover, retrospective data access enables the measurement of raw material standards received from suppliers and the taking of more informed operational decisions. A Heartbeat feature helps ensure the TOMRA 5C operates at maximum performance, providing one-click information about machine status and automatically alerting if a malfunction occurs. The hygienic machine design with minimal and curved surfaces and easy access makes cleaning simpler and increases operating time. The proven TOMRA ACT user interface makes operation easier. The machine has also demonstrated in testing its ability to perform well in the challenging conditions of IQF applications, with the capability to function in work environments as hot as 50°C or as cold as -30°C.