It is believed that the Sackett family have been cultivating potatoes on the farm in Michigan, US, for more than six generations, beginning with 20 acres of this crop in 1905. The present day Sackett Ranch covers more than 8200 acres (3,320 acres) including over 3,800 acres (1,540 of land) committed to cultivating potatoes to be used in chips made from potato. Sackett Ranch also produces seeds corn, field corn, soybeans, as well as wheat.

Sackett Ranch sells by far most of its potatoes approximately 80% to the top potato chip brands across the U.S., and has the obligation to comply with strict standards of quality. Not more than 2percent of the potatoes that are delivered to the plants can be found to be rotten, oversized over-sized, or having imperfections on the outside. The process of meeting these requirements is challenging or impossible in addition to time-consuming for sorting manual. After their purchase of the TOMRA 3A as well as the TOMRA 5A opto-selecting equipment, Sackett Ranch has found that it is easy to satisfy the requirements for quality through pressing just several buttons on a touchscreen.

This TOMRA 3A laser sorter has been created to take foreign substances from the potatoes that have been harvested, and is capable of handling 100 tonnes (120 short tonnes) each hour. In the Sackett Ranch, Sackett Ranch, this machine efficiently eliminates foreign substances like corn cobs, stones dirt clods, and also fresh potatoes straight in the fields.

Its TOMRA 5A is a premium size grader and bulk sorter which is very well-liked by processors of potatoes. It is heavy-duty, powerful and extremely efficient This machine detects and removes potatoes which are distorted, too-small or over-sized or are spoiled due to mold, rot or discoloration.

Luke Parr, Farm Manager at Sackett Ranch and Sackett Ranch, stated “The TOMRA machines have eliminated our issues with labor. If I didn’t have the TOMRA product then I’d have to rush every day to locate persons, in anticipation of whom shows up and who isn’t. Today, we only need the right number of individuals. Simply flip the switch and it’s running. When we first started using TOMRA it was common for us to begin our work in the morning between 10.00-10.30 due to having to wait in line for employees. Today, we are able to collect additional three hours of time and complete multiple operations simultaneously without waiting for staff.”

Another major benefit of the TOMRA sorters Luke reports the other benefit can be “increased quality. Our customers benefit. We can also determine the exact size for each of the loads that go into the bins. We are aware of the amount of foreign, green material is present, in each area and for each bin and can even grade-out the scab with greater precision than human eyes. Manual labor could get out about 60% of the foreign matter; today we’re getting close to 90 percent. The reason is simple: TOMRA 3A and TOMRA 5A share identical user interfaces, which means that programming works across both.”

Check out a complete testimonial from a customer video.

More information is available here:

Michelle Haynes

TOMRA Food

Tel: +64 21 377 141

Email: michelle.haynes@tomra.com

www.tomra.com/food