September/October 2023 - 12

FACILITY OPERATIONS
SORTING
SOLUTIONS
TOMRA Food's 5B optical sorting machine helped
McCall Farms in Effingham, South Carolina., increase
the quality of its product while reducing reliance on
manual labor. Photo by Melinda Waldrop.
EQUIPMENT ADVANCES FUEL GROWTH OF SOUTH CAROLINA
CANNING OPERATION
By Melinda Waldrop
Managing Editor
AMANDA SAL I SBURY LOVES
SORTERS. IN FACT, she loves them with
an unabashed affection that guided her
career path.
Salisbury, maintenance superintendent
at McCall Farms in Effingham, South
Carol ina, became intrigued with
TOMRA Food's sorting technology as
she was graduating from Sierra College
in California.
" I actually chose TOMRA specifically
because of the sorter machine, " said
Salisbury, who worked for the Belgiumbased
company for three years. " I looked
up their technology, I looked at those
machines, and I said, 'I want to know
more about that.' ... I still love the
sorters to this day. I'm always learning
something new. "
12
SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 2023
Founded in 1838, McCall Farms has
grown into a one million-square-foot
canning operation growing crops on 2,000
acres, with nine national brands and 235
products. The farm works with other
South Carolina growers, as well as farms
in North Carolina, Georgia and Florida,
on an additional 25,000 contracted acres
of crops including green beans, tomatoes,
cabbage, greens, corn, sweet potatoes
and peanuts.
The TOMRA technology that so
appealed to a newly graduated Salisbury
has fueled the farm's growth.
TECHNOLOGICAL LEAP
In the years leading up to and
including 2018, McCall Farms typically
produced 18 million cans of green
beans per year. By 2022, that number
ballooned to 204 million cans per
year, largely because of the company's
acquisition of a state-of-the-art TOMRA
5B optical sorting machine.
McCall Farms embarked on a $35
million expansion in 2017 and invested
another $50 million in a 2019 expansion.
Those moves created hundreds of jobs
and represent the in-state investment the
South Carolina Department of Agriculture
wants to encourage through a new $40
million incentive program funded by the
state's General Assembly.
McCall Farms, in its sixth generation
of family ownership, employs more
than 1,000 people, but difficulties in
recruitment and retention, paired with
growing production needs, left the farm
searching for new solutions.
" We sold more beans, we were canning
more beans, " Salisbury said. " We couldn't
keep up with quality to the standard that

September/October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September/October 2023

The Process
A century of sustainability
Safety starts with sanitation
Sorting solutions
Waste not, cut costs
Center for Produce Safety
PMMI
The Pulse
Calendar
Advertiser Index
What’s on the Web
September/October 2023 - 1
September/October 2023 - 2
September/October 2023 - 3
September/October 2023 - The Process
September/October 2023 - 5
September/October 2023 - A century of sustainability
September/October 2023 - 7
September/October 2023 - Safety starts with sanitation
September/October 2023 - 9
September/October 2023 - 10
September/October 2023 - 11
September/October 2023 - Sorting solutions
September/October 2023 - 13
September/October 2023 - 14
September/October 2023 - 15
September/October 2023 - Waste not, cut costs
September/October 2023 - 17
September/October 2023 - Center for Produce Safety
September/October 2023 - 19
September/October 2023 - PMMI
September/October 2023 - 21
September/October 2023 - The Pulse
September/October 2023 - What’s on the Web
September/October 2023 - 24
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/PRO/november-december-2024
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
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com