Kiwis take high tech fruit grader to US

Executives of an Auckland company, Compac Sorting Equipment, are travelling to the United States to launch a high-tech fruit grader - and the concept of labelling individual fruit according to taste.

They expect the idea to become a fundamental practice for wholesalers and retailers in affluent markets.

Compac said yesterday that it had developed its "Tastemark" fruit grader to use near-infra-red (NIR) technology to snap a "picture" of the interior and chemical composition of fruit passing on a conveyor belt.

Compac designs and makes mechanical, electronic and software equipment that sort fruit and vegetables. Its new demonstration machine will be on show at the Produce Marketing Association exhibition in Anaheim, Los Angeles, next week.

The exhibition draws 14,000 visitors over three days from throughout the United States and includes growers, packers, supermarkets and anyone else who has to handle fruit commercially.

Project manager Karen Lawton said years of development work had produced a non-invasive way of sorting fruit according to its soluble solids content, which helps determine sweetness and flavour.

Now Compac was telling the fruit industry in affluent markets that it could make more money by sorting fruit according to taste, and labelling it accordingly.

- NZPA

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