Spain: Tomra Food drives innovation in AI and strengthens its regional presence at Fruit Attraction 2024

TOMRA Food presented its advances in artificial intelligence with LUCAi™ for citrus fruits at Fruit Attraction 2024 and highlighted its new headquarters in Valencia for better regional service. It also showcased the TOMRA 5A, its efficient sorting solution for products such as potatoes and carrots. 

TOMRA Food participated in the first day of the 25th edition of Fruit Attraction, the international trade fair held from October 8 to 10 at IFEMA (Madrid), which brings together the most relevant companies in the horticultural sector. There, it presented the latest innovations of its LUCAi™ AI solution, hinting that the technology will soon be available for the citrus category.

It also showcased the advantages of its new regional structure with a new headquarters in Valencia, bringing it closer to its customers and offering comprehensive technical-commercial service. 

TOMRA Food took advantage of the much-anticipated 25th edition of Fruit Attraction in Madrid to unveil its renewed investment and support for the global fruit industry. Communication of its new headquarters in Valencia, the announcement of the upcoming LUCAi™ application for citrus fruits, as well as the TOMRA 5A, its bulk sorting solution for whole products such as potatoes, carrots, and peppers, also played an important role.

David del Castillo, Regional Sales Director for Southern Europe at TOMRA Food:

"The food sector is continuously growing due to obvious factors such as demography. However, fruits and vegetables have experienced significant growth recently. Those involved in this market have had to face new challenges to offer quality without losing speed. This is due to the awareness among younger generations of the need to eat healthier, and among older generations to do the same; and the immediacy that consumers expect with new digital purchases."

"Without a doubt, the citrus world requires more efficient and easier-to-use calibration systems. Due to the wide range of citrus fruits (oranges, mandarins, lemons, clementines, limes, grapefruits) and the various varieties within the range, LUCAi™ Citrus plays a fundamental role."

"It's true that it has required a great deal of work from TOMRA, but we are already in the final phase and will soon demonstrate the incredible results we can achieve. We are convinced it will be totally disruptive in the market and will become the new way of working going forward if you want to be truly competitive."

David del Castillo is the Sales and Marketing Director at TOMRA Food, and Roberto Ricci is the Sales Director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at TOMRA Food.

Fruit Attraction attendees, among the first to experience LUCAi™ for citrus

Presenting LUCAi™ for citrus at Fruit Attraction 2024 - TOMRA Food's advanced AI technology that revolutionizes fruit sorting

The new LUCAi™ application for citrus will incorporate the latest advances in TOMRA's AI technology based on Deep Learning. It has been developed by a team of scientists, engineers, researchers, and leading industry experts.

It uses pre-trained models and teaches computers how to process data, including complex photographic patterns, to achieve unprecedented sorting accuracy in an increasing number of fruits. It follows several pioneering launches.

In 2018, TOMRA Food launched LUCAi™ for blueberries in the KATO 260 blueberry sorter, which was the world's first Deep Learning program for fruit sorting. LUCAi™ Deep Learning for apples remained in the TOMRA Spectrim machine. In 2023, TOMRA added an application for cherries to the LUCAi™ portfolio, now available on the InVision2, and there are other categories currently in development.

David del Castillo:

"A key pillar of our strategy is maintaining our technological leadership. We want to share with the industry the extraordinary results our customers are achieving by integrating LUCAi™ Artificial Intelligence into their sorting systems for blueberries, apples, cherries, and, soon, citrus, along with other raw materials. There are already over 500 processing lines powered by LUCAi™, and the results have been extraordinary in terms of performance, batch quality improvement, and increased ease of use for operators."

"We have already installed the first test units in all citrus regions, both in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Specifically in Spain, we have two units working for the next citrus campaign, and we expect strong demand for this solution in several countries."

TOMRA Food welcomes customers, partners, and investors to its new headquarters in Valencia. 

David del Castillo highlighted the good results the company is achieving with its new regional structure, which allows for greater customer proximity.

David del Castillo:

"The new regional organization allows us to meet our customers' requirements faster and more efficiently. Thus, we continue to be a global company but interacting locally. A critical element for our EMEA region is our new TOMRA Food Valencia center, which celebrated its first anniversary in September."

"With it, we can dispense with intermediaries and deal directly with customers in Spain to meet their commercial and technical support needs. In addition, we have a training program for new and existing customers and a demonstration room to showcase our equipment's advantages in situ."

Roberto Ricci, Director of Partner Management at TOMRA Food, highlighted the good performance of its collaboration with ICOEL: Roberto Ricci:

"ICOEL has proven to be a strategic partner for TOMRA's business development. They recently made a significant expansion of their facilities in Fondi (Italy) to increase their production capacity, R&D area, and spare parts inventory."

"Together, we have successfully carried out several installations for citrus, apples, and stone fruits, especially in Italy and Turkey. Furthermore, the support that ICOEL provided on-site to our engineers was essential for the validation and implementation of LUCAi™ for cherries last summer. Thanks to this work, we have already confirmed orders for new cherry line upgrades with LUCAi™ in Italy for the next season, and we will do the same for the upcoming citrus season."

TOMRA 5A, efficiency and precision

Experience the efficiency and precision of TOMRA 5A at Fruit Attraction 2024, a cutting-edge solution for sorting potatoes, carrots, and more

The TOMRA 5A is a high-capacity, high-performance sorting and grading machine that enables the sorting of food and the removal of a wide range of foreign materials. Thanks to pulsed LED technology, cameras, and near-infrared (NIR) sensors, it ensures excellent defect detection and removal. 

While initially focused on the potato sector, it has expanded its scope to include carrots, peppers, and other vegetables due to the market's high demands for quality and the inability to use manual processes for large volumes. It also has a pre-sorting application for citrus fruits.

David del Castillo:

"TOMRA 5A is a key element in the production line to remove any impurities that could affect food safety and eliminate quality defects."

 Current and future approaches of TOMRA Food

Considering market forecasts, TOMRA Food has already defined the approach to be taken.

David del Castillo:

"Sustainability will be an increasing priority in the sector, and TOMRA is fully committed to the circular economy. It is part of TOMRA's DNA, hence our motto #EveryResourceCounts; climate change can affect fruit production, which could impact prices and availability."

"To help with these potential price increases, it is essential to maximize packing plant efficiency, and TOMRA, with its technology, plays a crucial role; due to market segmentation, we focus on specialized and premium products; and adapting to regulatory changes regarding food safety, labeling, and sustainability, in which TOMRA is already fully aligned."