Upgrade is AC Foods’ largest investment in the Southern Hemisphere, expanding capacity fivefold
AC Foods/Legacy Packing have partnered with Tomra on a new multi-million-dollar upgrade to their Cobram packhouse located in Victoria, Australia.
Legacy Packing is part of the AC Foods Group – a California-based vertically integrated fresh produce company – and the upgrade represents AC Foods’ biggest investment in the Southern Hemisphere.
AC Foods Australia general manager Brett Jackson said it was an exciting project for the organisation.
“We are genuinely excited about this project. The team has worked hard to get this off the ground and we are looking forward to becoming a leader in the Australian citrus industry,” Jackson said.
The multi-million-dollar investment will be allocated to equipment and building. The upgrade will allow Legacy Packing’s packing shed to pack over five times the volume of its existing line.
“We will be able to tip in excess of 2,000 bins of Sumo Citrus a day when commissioned,” Jackson said.
The upgrade will be a ten-lane pre-grade and ten-lane commit to pack line with Tomra’s newest AI learning sorting equipment, LucAI.
This new line is Tomra’s largest single installation in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Tomra Food has been a world leader in citrus packing for many years and is at the forefront of the latest AI fruit sorting technology. The improvement in speed and efficiency will be a game changer for us,” Jackson said.
Following the major upgrade, Legacy Packing aims to successfully pack more than 200,000 bins of citrus annually, as well as stonefruit and other lines.
“This is the largest investment in the Australian citrus industry for some time, which shows AC Foods’ commitment and belief in the sound fundamentals of citrus in Australia,” Jackson said.
