In a constantly evolving market, De Marchi maintains its leading position by investing in innovative technologies. The Brazilian company opted for increased automation in its production line in order to boost the quality and performance of its products. Since the implementation of the TOMRA 5B sorting machine in February 2023, significant improvements in product sorting and volumes have been seen.
De Marchi Group's activities range from large-scale fruit and vegetable cultivation to the production of a variety of frozen foods and products for both the Brazilian and international markets. In such a demanding market, the company strives to exceed customer expectations by offering higher quality, healthier and, above all, more sustainable products.
The agro-industrial sector accounts for more than 231% of Brazil's GDP. The fruit and vegetable market in Brazil has seen steady growth and has become a crucial part of the economy. Although fruits and vegetables are not yet an established part of the Brazilian population's diet, their popularity is on the rise, driven by consumers' preference for natural and organic foods, valued for their health benefits.
TOMRA: A partnership with multiple benefits
Carlos Alberto De Marchi, Industrial Director at De Marchi, emphasises the importance of the business partnership with TOMRA: “Working with TOMRA gives us several advantages. The main one is the increase in the quality of our product.” Carlos explains that before the installation of the TOMRA 5B, the process was: “completely manual, but now the TOMRA sorter has meant a great advance, not only in terms of resource management but also, economically. Thanks to the use of this technology, we have not only seen a plausible increase in profitability, but we have also experienced significant improvements in the food safety of the product. Manual work requires constant concentration on complex repetitive tasks, so it was becoming increasingly difficult to carry out correctly. The tasks are made easier by the TOMRA equipment, which also manages to increase the reliability of the sorting process considerably.”
After installing the TOMRA machine and working with it in the processing of various types of fruit and vegetables, De Marchi’s feedback today could not be more positive: “Automating our line has resulted in a 30% increase in productivity and greater safety for our products. These achievements would have been impossible to achieve with our old manual process. In addition, we have managed to improve the profitability, reliability and agility of our processes to achieve higher standards. We greatly appreciate the exceptional personal support we receive from TOMRA through various channels, which makes a real difference to our operation,” says Carlos Alberto De Marchi.
João Medeiros, Commercial Sales Director TOMRA Food Brazil, says: “Our collaboration with De Marchi is key in such an important sector as fruit and vegetables. De Marchi is an innovative company with a strong presence in the national and international market. It is a privilege to provide a cutting-edge optical sorting solution to one of Brazil’s leading companies in this sector.”
As always, TOMRA and the customer worked closely together. João Medeiros explains: “TOMRA designed the solution together with De Marchi, paying close attention to detail because their product range is very wide and required a comprehensive solution capable of supporting all their product lines. The demonstration of the machine at the modern test centre at the TOMRA Regional Centre in Santiago, Chile, was also key to the success of the project.”
TOMRA 5B: Versatile and focused on productivity
The key benefits of using the TOMRA 5B optical sorter are the assurance of maximum food safety, higher quality product sorting, increased production line efficiency and simple operation. This translates into greater consistency in product quality and allows employees previously engaged in sorting to be reassigned to other important areas of the production line.
João Medeiros comments: “With the growing demand for innovative food sorting technologies and the need to meet ever-evolving consumer expectations, the TOMRA 5B machine has been breaking down barriers in the Brazilian market. It has proven itself in a variety of applications, particularly in the minimally processed fruit and vegetable segments as well as frozen pre-fried potatoes. The optical sensor-based technology automates the food sorting process, increasing both quality and productivity on the production line. The machine ensures constant quality inspection, improving the safety of food reaching the end consumer.”
João Medeiros looks forward to the continuation of the cooperation between TOMRA and De Marchi. “We are convinced that this is just the beginning of a strong and long-lasting partnership, as De Marchi is constantly looking for innovations, both in the industrial and agricultural fields. Our mission is to serve them with the utmost excellence, bringing our experience to future projects to automate new lines, always supporting De Marchi’s success.”
This confidence is shared by Carlos Alberto De Marchi, who explains: “Due to the excellent results obtained and the expansion of new production lines, it is likely that we will make new acquisitions of machines in the near future.”
