TOMRA Food, global leader in innovative sorting, grading, and packaging solutions, participated in the Blueberry Convention 2023, an event that provides an excellent opportunity to engage with current and potential customers, as well as showcase the company’s latest technological advancements and developments.
TOMRA has eight different categories in fresh fruit, including apples, kiwis, citrus fruits, tomatoes, avocados, stone fruits, blueberries, and cherries.The company stands out for its focus on implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Vicente Pérez, Sales Manager for blueberries in Chile, Peru, and Mexico at TOMRA, said, “One of TOMRA’s strengths is our LUCAi artificial intelligence technology. It has been developed for blueberries since 2019 and is currently being released for cherries. The way AI works is similar to how a person’s memory may work. When you show a blueberry to a person for the first time, they will store the image in their database (memories). As they see more blueberry images, they learn the different normal structures and defects that the fruits have. Then, when they see even more fruit, they can identify those defects based on the stored data. That’s why TOMRA has been taking individual photos of blueberries and labelling each structure for over 4 years, generating a database of more than 250,000 fruits loaded into the LUCAi artificial intelligence module to create ‘memories’ for the optical sorter and achieve much greater accuracy in defect detection. With this, the equipment is capable of identifying which defect is detected based on the configuration provided, minimizing equipment errors.”
In Chile and worldwide, TOMRA’s machines make the process as efficient as possible by working with the producers’ raw material: their fruit. In the past, when fruit was harvested, there were different sizes and qualities that were sold in a single package at a single price. Today, thanks to innovative selection solutions, it is possible to segregate the fruit into different qualities and packaging formats, allowing for sales to different markets with varying requirements and prices, maximizing returns for the producers.
It is worth mentioning that TOMRA’s sorting technology has proven to be a valuable tool for producers, enabling them to improve the efficiency and profitability of their operations.
TOMRA’s participation in the Blueberry Convention 2023 is another demonstration of its commitment to innovation and support for the agricultural industry. By engaging with customers and sharing advancements, TOMRA continues to establish itself as a leader in the field of fruit sorting, grading, and packaging.