Rising costs, increasing labor shortages and the sector’s restructuring through company mergers, driven by acquisitions by large operating funds, are boosting investment in automation in fruit and vegetable packing houses, and in an increasingly integrated way. So says Christophe Blanc, co-owner and CEO of Grupo Maf Roda, a family-owned, multinational company that has been a leader in process automation solutions for fruit and vegetable warehouses for more than 60 years and is present in some 70 countries.
"The COVID pandemic resulted in many producing and marketing companies addressing labor shortage issues by further automating the pre-calibration and sorting of fruit and vegetables, and doing the same with more and more processes, striving for almost complete autonomy,” said Christophe Blanc.
"The disproportionate rise in costs in less than two years has also led many companies to consider automation as a medium and long term solution to continue growing, remain competitive in their markets and be able to offer the highest quality at affordable prices."
"The need to automate all processes applies to a wide range of products, especially citrus fruits, cherries, tomatoes, stone fruit, berries, apples... The labor shortage is a widespread issue in several countries," he said.
An ambitious automation project in the tomato sector to compete against Morocco
One of the company's most ambitious projects in 2023 has been the installation of automation lines for one of the leading tomato production companies in Almeria: Vicasol.
"There are growing concerns in the tomato sector in Spain due to the rapidly increasing market share in Europe of third countries such as Morocco, which they are achieving by offering more aggressive prices. This has led companies like Vicasol to take steps to improve cost control and production efficiency while ensuring quality remains the same in order to remain competitive. That is why they came to us, seeking to maximize automation,” says Christophe.
"This is a huge and interesting project, unprecedented in the tomato sector; one that brings a very high degree of automation and allows a significant increase in the production with very few personnel," he said. "The first phase was completed at the beginning of the year and the pre-sizing and pre-packing lines are already running with our Globalscan 7 technology, which analyzes the external quality of the fruit. When the second phase is finished, all robotics will be included, including autonomous AGVs.
"Championing a brand requires maintaining quality standards constant and consistent"
Pomone IV enjoys a very good reputation in the sector, according to Christophe. "It is very efficient, with a low maintenance cost, great precision and a low noise level that is very welcome in the market.
Moreover, when combined with competent management, the Globalscan 7 grader and Viotec, patented by Maf Roda, can significantly reduce labor needs while ensuring a high level of accuracy in fruit sorting by quality. This way, we achieve a homogenization of quality standards for different markets. Championing a brand requires maintaining quality standards constant and consistent.
A year has passed since the company presented its successful AGV autonomous vehicle at the previous edition of Fruit Attraction. "All customers who chose to install it in their plants have been very satisfied. The demand is growing exponentially. We have already installed it several times for very significant players in Spain and are active in other parts of the world. In the United States, we are planning a very ambitious project in the citrus sector which will also be implemented in Israel for avocados. With only 4 people, it is possible to process between 40 and 50 tons of citrus fruits per hour. We have very promising years ahead of us in the implementation of these robots," said Christophe Blanc.
Growth in cherry and blueberry with lines that integrate all of the plant’s processes
With 80% of the market share in Spain, the citrus sector is among the ones with the highest implementation of Maf Roda's technology, although other products, such as cherries, blueberries, or stone fruit, are also recording good growth. In fact, the firm won an innovation award with its patented Cherryway IV sizer for cherries, which makes it possible to scan the fruit’s entire surface; something difficult to achieve, when you need to take the fruit's peduncle into account.
"We have recently implemented an interesting project in the Jerte Valley, with robotization to automatically depalletize the boxes and dump their contents on the sorting lines. AGV robots are also used in order to optimize workflows within the plant. Labor has been an increasing constraint in recent years, especially for cherries, whose season lasts for just a little over two months.”
When it comes to the development of blueberry technology, Maf Roda has come up with a line that integrates every process, including the filling of clamshell tubs. "The idea is for a single line to integrate all processes and achieve maximum optimization, from the moment the fruit is dumped on the line until it is placed in the containers, in boxes and, finally, on the pallets. We are pioneers in this. In this way, everything is in the hands of the same manufacturer, allowing greater control and communication between the various links in the process, as well as optimal management and supervision of the line.
"The trend of companies merging into large groups is driving automation"
The fruit and vegetable sector is undergoing a reorganization process. "Large companies are increasingly forming larger groups with the backing of investment funds, seeking to have a more substantial product range while further strengthening supplier-customer relationships," said Maf Roda's CEO. "This is driving automation."
"Since these groups are so large, they can have specialized plants for a single product, which maximizes the production capacity of their lines and results in better automation and greater efficiency than in multi-product lines. Based on the needs of companies when it comes to labor and cost management and their pursuit for high and consistent quality, I believe this trend will continue in the coming years," said Christophe Blanc.
For more information:
Maf Roda
www.maf-roda.com