"In the processing hall, there were four large tables with 14 women at each table manually processing vegetables: bunching, leaf picking, and cutting the products to size. Thanks to the processing line, the grower can now manage with fewer workers, and the product is much more uniform, making it suitable for export," explains Christian Oosterlaan from Pack TTI. Last year, he met grower Kingston from Khang Thinh Fruits and Vegetables at the HortEx fair in Vietnam. Immediately after the fair, he visited his cultivation company, and exactly a year later, the first VegHands processing line was installed.
Pack TTI supplies the FlowerHands and VegHands processing lines to the horticulture and fresh produce sector. These are shipped worldwide and can now also be found in Vietnam. The horticulture sector is rapidly growing in the country, and despite the large supply of workers, it remains a challenge to find people who can complete the work effectively.
This was also the case for Khang Thinh Fruits and Vegetables. The grower, located near Ho Chi Minh, cultivates various Asian leafy greens and is one of the few growers in Vietnam licensed to export to Europe. "Uniformity and control over the processing are crucial for him," Christian says. To improve this process, the grower purchased a Pack TTI processing line. Now, about a year after the first introduction to the company at the HortEx fair, the machine has just arrived. As a result, cutting and de-leafing are done mechanically, which is a significant gain for the grower. "After a week, only six people were needed instead of 14 to process the vegetables. They mainly have a supervisory role. Additionally, the product that now comes out is already very uniform."
The processing hall will soon be even more equipped: a Cyklop binder is to be delivered shortly to bundle the products. "And if this continues to go well, he would like to further automate with additional processing lines."
Although this is Pack TTI's first vegetable project in Vietnam, the company has been active in the Vietnamese floriculture sector for some time. "We have already supplied various flower binding lines and some compact lines for smaller growers, as well as for flower shops. It's going quite well; you notice the market here is growing. Why is this? The pursuit of uniformity plays a role, but I also hear that good personnel are hard to find. Through machinery, people try to maintain quality and increase capacity. Moreover, labor costs here are also increasing, leading to more focus on automation," Christian explains.
He emphasizes the importance of trade agreements between the Netherlands and Vietnam: "As a result, import and export costs have significantly decreased. You notice there is much more trade between Vietnam and the Netherlands, making Vietnam a flourishing market for vegetables, fruits, and flowers. There's increasingly more activity."
For more information:
Christian Oosterlaan
Pack TTI
Lange vaart 1
2665 KT, Bleiswijk
Tel.: +31 88 425 62 40
[email protected]
www.packtti.com