September/October 2022 - 14

SORTING
DRIED FRUIT
Advanced technology
for prune sorting
KEY TECHNOLOGY'S SORTER WAS THE TICKET
FOR MAXIMUM QUALITY AND EFFICIENCY
By Cat McBride
Freelance Writer
MARIANI, A FOURTH-GENERATION,
family-owned company, has been in
the dried fruit industry for 115 years.
The company has adopted advanced
technology to ensure the highest product
quality and production efficiency. With
five facilities across the U.S. and Mexico,
Mariani processes over 300 million lbs. of
fruit annually and sells its product under
the Mariani brand, under customers'
private labels and as bulk ingredients to
food processors.
In 2021, Mariani began looking for a
top-of-the-line digital sorter for a new
prune sorting and grading line, located
at their Marysville, California facility.
" Previously, we had a 12-year-old
standalone sorter that performed better
when all the fruit was the same size,
so we had to grade the prunes prior to
sorting, " said Andrew Kennedy, director of
14 SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 2 0 2 2
Grower Relations at Mariani. " We wanted
to integrate sorting and grading on one
line, and to do that, we needed a new
sorter with a higher throughput, smaller
footprint and more advanced sorting
capabilities. We spoke with multiple
suppliers and, based on that research,
decided a VERYX digital sorter from Key
Technology was the best solution. "
To maximize product quality, Mariani
selected a fully loaded VERYX C140 chutefed
sorter with front- and back-mounted
cameras, laser sensors and Key's Pixel
Fusion detection module to identify and
remove all types of foreign material (FM)
and the right amount of product defects
to make grade. VERYX finds glass, rocks,
plastic, insects, animal parts, extraneous
vegetative matter (EVM) and more, as well
as a variety of defects including scabs,
cracks, exposed meat and brown rot.
" The most significant improvement
we've seen since installing VERYX-we've
virtually eliminated all Class 1 FM, which
includes allergens like almond and walnut
pieces that come from nearby growing
fields. I cannot overstate what a big deal
that is, " said Kennedy.
Mariani's Marysville facility sorts
and grades prunes before sending them
70 miles to their Vacaville, California,
facility for further processing. If the
Vacaville team identifies any Class 1 FM
in a lot, they send it back to Marysville
for re-sorting. Before Mariani installed
VERYX last season, the Vacaville team
sent back over 750,000 pounds of fruit.
This season, they haven't found a single
Class 1 FM allergen in any lot Marysville
has sent them. " VERYX has saved us an
enormous amount of time and resources
from this alone, " noted Kennedy.

September/October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September/October 2022

September/October 2022 - 1
September/October 2022 - 1a
September/October 2022 - 1b
September/October 2022 - 2
September/October 2022 - 3
September/October 2022 - 4
September/October 2022 - 5
September/October 2022 - 6
September/October 2022 - 7
September/October 2022 - 8
September/October 2022 - 9
September/October 2022 - 10
September/October 2022 - 11
September/October 2022 - 12
September/October 2022 - 13
September/October 2022 - 14
September/October 2022 - 15
September/October 2022 - 16
September/October 2022 - 17
September/October 2022 - 18
September/October 2022 - 19
September/October 2022 - 20
September/October 2022 - 21
September/October 2022 - 22
September/October 2022 - 23
September/October 2022 - 24
September/October 2022 - 25
September/October 2022 - 26
September/October 2022 - 27
September/October 2022 - 28
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/september-october-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/2024-digital-buyers-guide
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/july-august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/may-june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/march-april-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/january-february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/november-december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/september-october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/2023-digital-buyers-guide
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/july-august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/may-june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/march-april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/january-february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/november-december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/september-october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/2022-digital-buyers-guide
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/july-august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/may-june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/march-april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/january-february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/november-december-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/september-october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/july-august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/may-june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/march-april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/january-february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/november-december-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/september-october-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/august-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/july-august-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/may-june-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/march-april-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/january-february-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/november-december-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/september-october-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/august-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/july-august-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/may-june-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/march-april-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/january-february-2019
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