Based in the Lyon region, Voie Verte has been growing and selling produce since 1972. In 2012, the company established a fresh-cut operation to offer pre-prepared fruit and vegetables. The success of this venture led to the opening of a new 5,100m2 plant in Les Echets in 2017, which included a large, dedicated area for fresh-cut products.
Helping to maximise production capacity in this new facility has been the installation of three Ishida Fresh Food Weighers (FFW), which were specifically designed to provide a solution to the efficient and accurate weighing of delicate and hard-to-handle fresh sticky and bruise-sensitive products. With demand continuing to grow, the excellent performance of the first 12-head model to be installed persuaded Voie Verte to invest in an additional two 6-head weighers.
Central to the design of the FFW is the distribution system at the top of the weigher, which allows one or two operators to evenly distribute product via belt feeders to the weigh hoppers, this also allows the operators to have a final check on the product quality before it is weighed into portions. The FFW’s ergonomic layout makes it easy to spread out products on the feeder table and the belt feeders facilitate a precise and consistent product feed to the hoppers. Scraper hopper gates, ribbed surfaces and scrapers on the collection belt conveyors minimise product sticking. These features help to maximise the speed, accuracy and efficiency of the weighing process.
For Voie Verte the weighers offer several specific advantages. In particular, they have delivered greater efficiencies, ensuring precise and accurate weighing of each portion of fruit with minimal giveaway, while maintaining the quality of the cut fruit. As a result, the company has had to assign fewer operators to the packaging operation for these products.