Less labour availability, rising energy costs and polarised purchasing are just some of the latest trends in the fruit and vegetable chain that require an integrated response across its different phases in order to compete in a concrete, effective and coherent manner in the market. For this reason, UNITEC, the international market leader in the classification of the internal and external quality of more than 50 types of fruit and vegetable products, has in recent years begun a process of implementing its knowledge, accumulated over 100 years of activity, even in the pre- and post-processing phases of fruit and vegetable processing lines.
This is how the harvesting cart was born, which integrates an initial selection of the fruit in the field, providing useful information to the workers on how and what to harvest, and which, thanks to the division between fresh produce and product for the industry, guarantees an approximate saving of 5-6% both in costs and storage space.
Similarly, in later phases, UNITEC is integrating its own fruit and vegetable product processing lines with robotic installations of the division. UNI Robotics, for automated packaging and palletising, capable of optimising labour and, at the same time, avoiding tiring and alienating work for operators; without neglecting, in this case too, the ability to reduce costs, improving efficiency, effectiveness and increasing profitability.
Among these solutions, UNITEC presents at the Fruit Logistica fair some of its latest cutting-edge products; among them, the UNI FLOW GENTLE PACKER, a patented solution that maximises the efficiency and capacity/potential of automatic apple packing, thanks to a continuous and gentle transfer of the fruit into the alveoli. The use of specific and extremely delicate suction cups allows this entire process to be carried out preserving the integrity of each fruit.
But UNITEC's innovation does not stop here.
In fact, UNITEC continues to develop, with constant updates and improvements, more and more high-performance solutions for the classification of internal and external quality of fruit, for the detection of a combination of qualitative parameters, in order to divide them into clusters based on the demands arising from the market: in this way, products not suitable for the fresh market can be destined for the processing industry. By allocating them to the correct reference market, it is therefore possible to reduce costs resulting from waste throughout the entire supply chain, with a significant increase in benefits both in terms of final consumer satisfaction and environmental sustainability.
At the UNITEC stand, two solutions for classifying the quality of cherries and blueberries are on display, equipped with the systems Cherry Vision 3.0 and UNIQ Cherry, Blueberry Vision 3 and UNIQ Blueberry, capable of scanning each cherry or blueberry at 360°, for an even higher, more precise and more reliable classification of external and internal quality, in order to enhance the organoleptic characteristics of these two delicious fruits, so appreciated by consumers around the world.
There are countless new developments in external and internal quality classification systems, with systems developed entirely by the company's R&D department dedicated to specific fruits, from the VISION range (Kiwi Vision 3, Peach Vision 3, Plum Vision 3, Apples Sort 3, Pears Sort 3, Avocados Sort 3) etc. and the UNIQ range (UNIQ Kiwi, UNIQ Peach, UNIQ Plum, UNIQ Apples, UNIQ Avocados, UNIQ Melon, etc.).
Among these, the latest innovations produced by UNITEC particularly stand out, Onions Sort 3 and UNIQ Onions for the classification of the external and internal quality of all onion varieties.
In addition to fresh fruit, UNITEC has also developed solutions for sorting dried fruit with the systems Walnut Vision and Hazelnut Vision, which provide significant benefits in the processing and quality classification of walnuts and hazelnuts (with or without shell, raw or roasted), detecting their defects in addition to shape, size and color.
For dates, however, we find UNI INTELLIGENT PACK DATES, the robotic solution capable of arranging the dates inside the trays so that they are oriented in the same direction. Together with this robotic application for the product process in which the brand is specialized Unisorting, the space dedicated to UNI Robotics (Hall 4.1, stand B-10) will exhibit a robotic solution capable of palletizing boxes according to the desired and customized configuration through the coordinated use of two robots.
The UNITEC Group is presenting many innovations and new features at this 30th edition of Fruit Logistica.
«As UNITEC – says Angelo Benedetti, President of the Group – we are connected to the needs of the global fruit and vegetable industry, driven by a strong desire to provide concrete answers and significantly improve the processes of fresh fruit and vegetables and now also of dried fruit. A connection that we carry in our DNA, a connection that goes back a long way, with almost 100 years of history and knowledge acquired in more than 65 countries around the world. A connection and attention – concludes Angelo Benedetti – that we will continue to have, to be at the side of our Clients as a technological partner capable of helping them improve their business, present and future».
