Making the grade with avocado inspection solution

Avocado and fresh produce supplier Westfalia Fruit has partnered with Neolithics to implement its non-destructive fruit testing capabilities for its avocados. The inspection technology has provided the produce supplier with an alternative to its manual fruit inspection, with the solution designed to minimise produce loss, drive efficiencies and maximise consistent quality.

“Westfalia is focused on reducing food loss and optimising the value of natural resources used throughout the supply chain,” said Andy Mitchell, Head of Innovation at Westfalia Fruit.

“Neolithics shares our values, and its technology enables us to achieve these goals more quickly.”

The Neolithics hardware delivers spectral analysis of various organic materials, both internally and externally, without damaging a single piece of fruit, while the software provides comprehensive data management for grading and prediction.

The platforms are designed to integrate seamlessly into any production environment while enhancing productivity and reducing food loss in the supply chain.

Using hyperspectral imaging in wide spectrum, the technology captures thousands of data point images per second of each avocado as it moves through production. Optical sensors collect the reflected data for real-time analysis and quality grading by advanced deep learning models and AI-based algorithms.

Several months of testing demonstrated that the technology can replace almost all the supplier’s current destructive inspection processes.

“With this new technology, we expect the volume of fruit used within quality checks to be reduced by more than 90%, with the additional benefit of using real-time data to efficiently and consistently grade and sort fruit,” Mitchell said.

Initially, Westfalia Fruit will be using the systems to gain critical insights such as firmness, defects, rot, maturity and shelf-life predictions. The insights will improve grading and help maintain consistent quality, ensuring fruit reaches the market efficiently while reducing loss and waste.

Three different Neolithics solutions have been introduced across several Westfalia Fruit locations to inspect fruit: Neolithics Light, Neolithics Box and Neolithics Inline.

Image credit: iStock.com/Amax Photo