Pinguin sorts out its efficiency with Manta 2000 series

Investing in three Manta 2000 series sorters for processing spinach and green beans has helped Belgian company Pinguin reduce its yield loss to less than 2%, enabling the company to more efficiently handle the 6- to 8-week Belgian spinach harvest.

A member of the PinguinLutosa Food Group that specialises in frozen vegetables, Pinguin chose the Manta sorters from Key Technology as part of its strategy to continuously invest in product quality and food safety.

The sorters feature laser technology and top- and bottom-mounted cameras and are designed to improve detection and removal of foreign material (FM) and defects from green beans and wet spinach after washing.

The Pinguin 2000 series sorter.

“Historically, the vast majority of frozen spinach has not been sorted, which poses serious product quality and food safety risks,” said Tim Lobdell, Managing Director of Key Technology BV.

“A few processors have tried to sort prior to washing due to the challenges of handling wet spinach after washing. The problem with sorting prior to washing is that muddy leaves are rejected because the sorter ‘sees’ surface mud as a defect, which creates a yield loss of up to 7% that is unacceptable to most processors.

“By solving the product handling challenges associated with wet spinach, Key now enables sorting after washing, which reduces the yield loss to less than 2%. This is acceptable to processors who benefit from dramatically reducing the risk of foreign material in their product and customer complaints.”

The sorters’ two-metre-wide scan area allows it to sort up to 4500 kg of spinach each hour and up to 15,000 kg of green beans per hour. Top-mounted colour cameras and lasers, and bottom-mounted Vis/IR (visible infrared) cameras help maximise detection capabilities for both spinach and green beans. Two-sided viewing finds FM under spinach leaves to maximise product quality and food safety.

To reduce the yield loss traditionally associated with bottom-mounted cameras, Manta sorters feature Valve Activity Tracking that detects product on viewing windows and automatically activates an integrated clean-in-place (CIP) system to clear the window without operator assistance, allowing the sorter to continue operating.

“Pinguin is investing €17 million in its facility in Westrozebeke, Belgium, to adopt the latest technologies to maximise product quality and ensure the highest food safety standards,” said Hans Luts, Pinguin Managing Director. “This investment includes, in its first phase, a new production line with a new freezing tunnel and the latest optical sorting technology.

“During the project, we analysed the different technologies for maximising foreign material and defect material, and we selected Key’s Manta with confidence.”