Hall Hunter, the largest blueberry grower in the UK, has acquired a new Elifab Berry Class 12-lane sorting machine along with two automatic punnet fillers from Elifab’s partner Matexakta.
The new blueberry sorting and packing line will be installed soon and will be fully operational by the end of May, helping the company to market some 2,200 tonnes of blueberries per year to major retailers.
According to Elifab, ‘The decision to implement the technology was influenced by the urgent need to embrace AI for labour-saving, maintaining fruit quality, and achieving higher capacity. The precise grading capabilities and the automatic de-nesting feature of the punnet fillers align with Hall Hunter’s requirements for efficiency and quality’. The new line will enable Hall Hunter to reduce the number of staff per shift from 26 to 12, while also doubling output.
Alana Deacon, head of operations at Hall Hunter, commented, “Our objective is to expand our blueberry cultivation and establish ourselves as industry frontrunners. We’re adapting our fields to stay ahead of the curve, and we need technology and machinery that can keep up and enhance our operations. It’s a massive saving on labour and doubles the amount of throughput as well. We can be more flexible and more precise with our grading now, so we can grade as per specification and maximize our yield. The AI computer-tech world is coming, and either we embrace it and use it, or we get left behind”.
One key benefit is the punnet filler’s multiformat automatic de-nesting feature, combined with precise grading capabilities. “We like the way it’s specially designed for blueberries, in particular the low number of drops and the lowest transfer heights. This has a positive impact on the softness, bloom, etc.,” added Alana. “We also liked the flexibility of the Elifab-Ellips grading machine and how you can tweak things very precisely”. Ed Westerweele of Elifab added, “We’re very proud of this partnership with Hall Hunter, and we are looking forward to working closely with them to reduce costs and improve quality for consumers”.