Silver lining for Novo after devastating fire
2010-01-28
THE catastrophe of the Novo Packhouse fire last year, did have a silver lining. It created the platform for a new beginning and the development of exciting business opportunities. Colors Fruit, based in Paarl and the largest privately owned fruit exporter in South Africa, recently formed a strategic alliance with Greefa Europe, one of the largest international designers and manufacturers of fruit sorting machines. This state of the art technology will be a first for the South African fruit industry and implemented in Colors’ flagship packhouse, Novo. The first phase in the construction of the new Novo Packhouse commenced in the first week of December and the objective for the project is to have the first production line commissioned in early June. Greefa Europe, also a solid family enterprise, has developed high-quality sorting machines for more than half a century. Greefa has gained a strong reputation in this specialised field around the world. The company designs every part of their machines and modules, and can therefore offer unique solutions regarding functionality, ease-of-use and sorting requirements. Dick Verkade from Greefa Europe says, “We are very happy to have come to the strategic partnership with the Colors Group. We have found each other in innovations and state-of-the-art technologies. “Our mutual aim is to upgrade the South African fruit industry with the latest technologies.” The new packhouse will be able to sort and pack fruit at unprecedented efficiency levels which is more than double than the industry norm in South Africa, whilst giving significant consideration to the environmental sustainability of the new installation. Revolutionary technology invented by Greefa and implemented by Novo will be a first for the South African industry and includes the state of the art iQSIII and iFA sorting systems. iQSIII is an intelligent Quality Sorter that sorts fruit automatically according to external quality of the fruit by using special infrared and colour cameras and utilising advanced software analysis techniques. iFA does almost the impossible. The intelligent Flavour Analyser determines the internal quality of fruit by analysing it using Near Infra Red (NIR). The entire fruit is screened and the brix value, internal brownness and core rot can be determined accurately. The project scope entails the installation of a 44 channel pre-sorter with an 8-lane iQSIII grader, complemented with up to five specialised and dedicated packing lines, to pack pre-sorted fruit according to the marketing plan. The project will however commence with a multi-packaging line, equipped with a 6-lane iQS system to handle apples, pears, nectarines, peaches and plums. Novo Packhouse will have the local sales support of the Port Elizabeth based Greefa SA, the South African alliance of Greefa Europe. MED Automation in Paarl, led by Gerhard Visagie, will be the key supplier of pack sets, carton conveyors and other locally supplied peripheral packing equipment. The strategic partnership between Novo and Greefa will not be limited to the supply of state-of-the art packing equipment. Colors Fruit will have preferential access to future sorting technology invented by Greefa’s Research and Development team, ensuring that the Novo Packhouse remains at the forefront of this technology. According to Willem Bestbier, Colors Group Operations Director, “Innovation and leadership lies at the core of Colors as a business. The new Novo Packhouse will truly be a physical testimony to this pioneering spirit.”
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