Key Technology Signs Agreement to Deploy Chemical Imaging Technology (CIT®) for Potato Processors

Key Technology announces that it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with EVK DI Kerschhaggl GmbH and Insort GmbH to deploy Chemical Imaging Technology (CIT®), an advanced value-added hyperspectral solution, in Key’s products, further enhancing potato sorting capabilities.

Additionally, an exclusive distribution agreement enables Key to market Insort’s Chemical Imaging Sorters to North American and global accounts in the potato industry.


Chemical Imaging Technology (CIT) is EVK’s and Insort’s proprietary solution that utilizes unique software and algorithms that process the information from the hyperspectral sensors to evaluate the chemical composition of the potato to determine the presence of sugar ends, dry matter, and percent of solids.

“These agreements further strengthen Key’s leadership position in the potato industry and allow us to continue providing our customers with the most innovative, value-add systems to improve their yield and product quality,” said Jack Ehren, President and CEO of Key Technology. “Partnering with EVK and Insort and the integration of CIT into Key products will enable Key to enhance existing technologies and create new differentiated sorting capabilities for potato processing applications.”

Chemical Imaging shows tremendous potential to solve a variety of outstanding product quality and processing challenges. It can detect invisible defects such as sugar ends prior to frying, an issue that plagues many potato processors. It can also help potato processors maximize total solids utilization (TSU) by analyzing the chemical composition of incoming potatoes to optimize blanching and frying. For a wide range of applications, the technology is highly effective in detecting foreign material (FM) because it is so precise in identifying the chemical composition of good product.

“Partnering with Insort and EVK will allow us to leverage CIT on new sorters and upgrades for Manta®, Tegra®, and Optyx® strip sorting systems and ADR® potato defect removal systems to deliver new value to our strategic partners in the potato industry,” said Louis Vintro, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Global Operations at Key. “On our ADR systems, CIT will enable making yield-maximizing decisions to remove only those defective portions of the potato strip as identified by the processor.”

“We are excited to partner with Key to bring our technologies and sorting solutions to customers and to work together to accelerate the development of new sorting and monitoring capabilities based on our Chemical Imaging Technology,” said Matthias Jeindl, President of Insort. “Key is a highly respected market leader with worldwide sales and service. They have exceptionally strong customer relationships and unparalleled industry expertise in their core markets. The new combined offering of Key’s existing sorting platforms integrating CIT, together with Insort’s Sherlock Separator and Sherlock Observer, will create added value to potato processors.

Source: Key Technology