In the South African Eastern Cape province, Sitrusrand began as a 10-hectare mixed farm that now spans 60 km across the Sundays River. Sitrusrand has 1,400 hectares of land of citrus fruit that it packs into its own.

With 1,500 employees, Sitrusrand exports citrus fruit in a variety of countries. International business has been based on the popularity for their continuous supply of fruit and quality of the product.

Sitrusrand has seen a massive growth in its operations in the years since Pieter Nortje joined his father as a partner in the company in 1994. “Fortune is a blessing to the courageous,” says Pieter, “and I’ve always known that I’d like to grow at a greater amount. I purchased more farms, as well as travelled around the globe I became aware of the requirements of various markets. This became my plan to ensure that I could supply the supermarkets with an ongoing supply of our produce that is of equal high quality.”

After a few years Pieter began working in the business it was decided that he would build the farm’s first packing house. The building, as he acknowledges “was quite basic. I would spend every hour of my life in the place, and I can recall how difficult it was to sort fruit manually in order to make decisions among the four types of fruits. Then I began looking at packing houses located in Europe that had the latest equipment. When it was financially feasible, we incorporated with the most modern technology. By using mechanical sorting, it was feasible to eradicate human error. The quality-related decisions could now be immediately made by computers and we were completely in control of the quality settings. The optical sorting process made it possible for us to package the same amount of quality within an individual carton, and also to adjust to the market’s demands such as packing more than average high-quality. Additionally, today the safety of food is a top priority worldwide Our ability to package fruit that has less or no residues has provided an edge in the market. We are able to guarantee our clients that the fruit is safe as well as have developed an image.”

The Sitrusrand plant grew and Pieter began to open a second packhouse and another. The result was that it was now possible to devote one of the packhouses solely to oranges, one for lemons and a third for soft citrus. However, the production rate grew more than capacity for packing – that’s why, in the year 2020, the company was able to open its fourth packing house. The facility is outfitted with the TOMRA Spectrim classifier and sorter and the Inspectra2 platform to perform internal graders for defects.

The Spectrim and Inspectra Sorting and Grading Platforms

The best equipment is required for the highest quality outcomes,” Pieter says. Pieter, “and with Spectrim and Inspectra2, we have. They have created possibilities that aren’t there before, particularly the Brix Grading using Inspectra2.”

The Inspectra2 platform used for internal defect grading uses the near-infrared spectrumrometer for detecting brix. However, it can as well to give valuable information on other characteristics that are crucial to packers and citrus growers.

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Marijke Bellemans

TOMRA

Tel: +32 (0)476 74 19 18

Email: marijke.bellemans@tomra.com

www.tomra.com/food