Newcomer signs 'win-win' potato defect deal
It will also exclusively distribute Insort’s Chemical Imaging Sorters to North America and other global accounts in the potato industry.
CIT is EVK’s and Insort’s proprietary technology that processes information from hyperspectral sensors to look at the chemical composition of a potato to determine the presence of sugar ends, dry matter, and percent of solids.
“Sugar ends are a problem for potato strip manufacturers because French fries made from affected potatoes exhibit undesirable dark brown areas after frying, which are caused by the higher concentration of reducing sugars caramelizing,” said Marco Azzaretti, Advanced Inspection Systems Product Manager, Key.
A ‘win-win’ situation
“The challenge is that sugar ends are invisible to traditional camera and laser sorters until after the product has been thoroughly fried, which isn’t done until the product is prepared by the foodservice customer.”
Matthias Jeindl, CEO, Insort, which was formed in 2011 as a joint venture of two parent companies, Infruits AG and EVK DI Kerschhaggl said the deal is a ‘win-win’ situation for them because as a small player in the industry the electronic sorting market is a tough business and a challenge for any newcomer.
“The main difference is, we are the first in market to take the chemical composition as sorting criteria based on full spectral analysis,” said Jeindl.
“The spectral signals of the objects are shown as false colour pictures (chemical images). So this allows to classify independently of colour, shape, surface or density. Just the chemical composition is important. Thus, we are able to look at invisible defects.
Upgrades for existing sorters
“Additionally, we can scan a product very accurately, so that every object, which is not corresponding to the spectral of a ‘good’ product are classified as foreign material. This is a very strong part of the machine and assures food safety.”
Key will deploy CIT on upgrades for existing sorters and automatic defect removal (ADR) systems. It can also help potato processors maximize total solids utilization (TSU) by analyzing the chemical composition of incoming potatoes to optimize blanching and frying.
“Partnering with Insort and EVK will allow us to leverage CIT on sorters and upgrades for Manta, Tegra, and Optyx strip sorting systems and ADR potato defect removal systems to deliver value to our strategic partners in the potato industry,” said Louis Vintro, senior VP Business Development and Global Operations, Key.
“On our ADR systems, CIT will enable making yield-maximizing decisions to remove only those defective portions of the potato strip as identified by the processor.”