Antarctic Foods relies on digital sorters to maximize production efficiency
The sorter’s unique recipe-driven operation allows it to be changed over to handle a new product in seconds with only a couple of taps on the touchscreen.
Antarctic Foods, Belgium, takes product quality seriously. Selling frozen vegetables to baby food processors and others throughout Europe, Antarctic has grown 25% annually over the last few years. And, as it expands, it continues to turn to Key Technology, Walla Walla, Wash.
That’s because in 2017, Antarctic Foods installed Key’s digital sorter, VERYX, to remove foreign material and defects from product prior to blanching. In 2019, Antarctic Foods added another VERYX immediately prior to packaging. Now, with two VERYX sorters on one production line, Antarctic is maximizing efficiency and elevating food safety.
“Before we chose VERYX, we considered others. The very positive experiences I had with Key and their equipment influenced our decision. Plus, the fact that VERYX is the latest technology – that’s what we want in our factory,” says Herwig Dejonghe, director general at Antarctic. “Because we sell our frozen vegetables as ingredients to other food processors, many of our customers also use digital sorters, so they know the technology. Having two VERYX sorters on one line differentiates us. We’re demonstrating our commitment to producing top quality product.”
Antarctic selected a belt-fed VERYX B140 sorter on the wet-end of the processing line, where product is a bit sticky. It also chose a chute-fed VERYX C140 for final inspection, where frozen product easily slides down the chute. This line prepares carrots, green beans and salsify of different types and various cut shapes and sizes.