Turkish fruit exporter Mapeks Organics invests in 15-minutes-per-ton optical sorter

Mapeks Organics, a Turkish, large-scale exporter of frozen organic fruit, recently disclosed it purchased a speedy TOMRA optical sorter to expand its capacity.

Mapeks was founded in Izmir, Turkey, in 1999, according to a news release from TOMRA. From its four production facilities in the country – in Bilecik, Usak, Afyon and Malatya – the company markets 35 different organic fruits to 80 countries on seven continents. As well as exporting frozen cherries, sour cherries, apricots and figs, Mapeks is Turkey’s largest global exporter of organic strawberries. In fact, of the 20,000 tons of organic strawberries shipped annually from Turkey, 10,000 tons are from Mapeks, according to a news release from TOMRA. The annual value of the company’s exports is $35 million.

To ensure high product quality, food safety, and high yield, Mapeks continuously develops its facilities and invests in cutting-edge technology automation, according to the news release. Its latest investment, a TOMRA Blizzard optical sorting machine, has improved product quality and increased capacity.

“Frozen organic fruit production is an important and emerging industry for the future,” Mustafa Memur, the chairman of the board of Mapeks Organics, said in the release. “Today our Mapeks products are sold at 12,000 sales points around the globe. Some 80% of these are located in the United States, where our organic packaged fruits can be purchased in supermarkets all year round. It is essential that our products are of high quality and comply with food safety and hygiene standards. Utilizing optical sorting machines offers many benefits in crucial areas such as increasing product quality, ensuring food safety, retaining high product standards, and reducing product loss. That is why we chose the Blizzard optical sorting machine and placed it in our facility in Afyon.”

Mapeks Organics is using the Blizzard mostly for processing strawberries, cherries, apricots, and pomegranates, according to the news release. Compared to traditional manual sorting methods, the new machine is much more efficient. It now takes 15 minutes rather than 40 minutes to process a ton of product, which will enable Mapeks to increase its monthly production tonnage by 25%.

Memur said in the news release that consistent product quality and yield should be achieved at the same time as high production volumes.

“With the Blizzard we will be able to remove defective products and foreign materials from the production line, hence increasing yield,” he said in the news release. “We also aim for minimizing product waste. The fact that we are going to process different products in different seasons is an important factor. We know that despite our varying product types and challenging working conditions, the Blizzard sorting machine will achieve a higher performance even in long shifts.”

The Blizzard’s high-resolution cameras are combined with pulsed LED light for strong imaging contrast, achieving an accuracy close to that of sorters with laser technology, according to the news release. The technology results in the highly efficient removal from the production line of foreign materials and products with color and shape defects.

Turkey’s frozen fruit and vegetables industry growing fast

In the last 10 years, frozen fruit and vegetable production has increased in Turkey for both the export and the domestic markets, according to the news release. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this growth ­– during this period Mapeks’ capacity has grown 50%.

“The pandemic has reshaped some of our consumption habits,” Memur said in the news release. “Foods that can be stored for longer periods without losing nutritional value, and which contain no additives, have become more popular. This means demand for frozen foods has increased, which is speeding-up the process of consumers changing their habits, especially in Turkey. To meet the increased demand, Mapeks has increased its capacity and retained and upgraded product quality by using cutting-edge technology.”

TOMRA Food Turkey’s Sales Manager for Processed Food, Bugra Bulut, said the Blizzard removes unwanted product defects, foreign materials, and shape distortions. He attributed that ability to the the intensity of the pulsed LED lights, which ensures more accurate sorting than traditionally lit machines.

“Despite difficult and sometimes dirty working conditions, the Blizzard’s performance does not deteriorate significantly over a long shift,” he said in the news release.