IMG Citrus has announced that it has added a US$1.5m investment to its packhouse processing line, a state-of-the-art electronic fruit grader, the 'Global Scan 7' from MAF Roda Industries in France.
According to the Florida-based citrus group, the new sorter has the ability to precisely capture 120 images per fruit and up to 120 fruit per second in high definition, analysing the images against specific criteria such as percentage of blemish, weight, colour, shape, and density concluding with 99 per cent accuracy.
“Our customers will greatly benefit from this technology because of much better consistency from carton to carton and from fruit to fruit,” said Michel Sallin, IMG Citrus president.
The sorter is expected to improve the overall quality of fruit through the identification and elimination of late blooms, which are not as sweet or juicy, as well as greening fruit.
“In a greening environment, it is important to protect the superior taste of Florida grapefruit and eliminate the few outliers,” Sallin noted. “To be successful in the fresh business, each piece of fruit needs to bring happiness to our consumers. Not many products have the privilege to be considered to be the best in the world, and it is IMG Citrus’ mission to protect this reputation of Florida grapefruit.”
IMG Citrus recently acquired Emerald Grove in St. Lucie County, renamed to be Happy Food grove after their consumer brand, an acquisition that makes IMG Citrus one of the largest growers of Florida grapefruit.
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