JBT to highlight cost-saving produce solutions

JBT will be showcasing a full range of solutions for fresh produce customers at the upcoming IFPA Global Produce & Floral Show.

In fact, making savings – from energy to water to manpower – is at the core of JBT’s participation at the annual North American produce industry showcase, with visitors able to learn exactly why JBT solutions will help customers better cope, and prosper, during these challenging times.

Fresher for longer

Innovations in preservation and post-harvest solutions will feature at the JBT booth, including coatings and decay control. The new JBT Sta-Fresh 2952 plant-based coating for pineapples will be one of the real highlights of JBT’s presence, according to John Siddle, JBT Global Produce Line Director for Fresh Produce Technologies (FPT).

“The Sta-Fresh 2952 works better for long-trade transit than anything we have seen in the industry,” he says. “The problem with making a coating out of a natural base is the variability of the raw materials and how to develop a consistent, easy-to-apply coating. Our product is certified bio-degradable in Costa Rica, plant-based, offers superior dehydration control and keeps pineapples fresher for longer for long-trade transit.”

This ability will keep pineapples fresh for more than 45 days in a refrigerated container; a real advantage when it comes to long distance shipments.

Reducing labor costs

However, when it comes to produce safety, hygiene is as important as post-harvest treatments. For this reason, JBT’s patented Bin Scrubber System provides a valuable means for keeping produce bins clean and contamination-free, while also saving on labor costs. According to a study carried out with a major citrus group, the automated Bin Scrubber – covering a wide variety of applications from citrus and apples to tomatoes and nuts – can help save as much as $66,000 per year in manpower.

At the same time, the Bin Scrubber helps producers save on water by filtering, treating and recirculating water used for cleaning, meaning daily fresh water costs are minimized. “The value proposition of the Bin Scrubber is in labor and water savings,” adds Siddle. “As a result, customers can expect payback in as little as 36 months.”

Premium point-of-sale juicing

Proving that it handles more than just citrus fruits, a new version of JBT’s long-established, highly-successful Fresh’n Squeeze juicer will be highlighted at the IFPA booth. Famed for its premium quality at the highest commercial yield whole fruit, cold-pressed juicing principle, the Fresh’n Squeeze juicer now features a conversion kit for point-of-sale juicing of apples and other fruits. This allows retailers to take advantage of consumer demand for fresher, more natural juices, while preserving the highest quality.

Making salads simple

JBT FTNON – a company with more than 50 years’ experience producing turnkey fresh cut systems – will also be present to highlight the new CoreTakr® Flex robot, an automated solution for salad processors handling more than just iceberg lettuce.

“With a salad you have to take out the core to have the pieces you want to eat,” explains FTNON General Manager, Richard Groenendijk. “The new CoreTakr Flex robot can handle a wide range of salad types, including iceberg. This reduces labor costs for our customers and improves the quality of the salads because you don’t have to handle them manually.”

Advances in tray-sealing

Tray sealing specialist JBT Proseal will be bringing three recent solutions to the IFPA show, all of which can be easily integrated as part of a produce production line. The semi-automatic, two-station Proseal GTR is capable of sealing 30 “atmospheric” packs per minute with a two-impression tool. Famed as the workhorse for numerous food industries worldwide, the GTR has become a benchmark for quality, semi-automatic tray sealing.

For larger capacities, the automatic, high-speed GT1e features a full vacuum facility designed to cut labor costs. Designed to apply any style of heat seal to a pre-formed trays, the GT1e provides flexibility to adapt to current and future packaging trends. Complementing the sealing solutions, the recently-launched Proseal CP3 is a fully automatic case packing system capable of processing up to 120 packs per minute. Exceptional efficiency and light weight power consumption technology guarantee a compact footprint and help keep a lid on energy costs.

AutoCoding Systems, one of the newest arrivals to the JBT family, will also be present to outline its unique skillset. AutoCoding’s provides packing houses with a “virtual assistant” which makes sure the correct labelling and coding is applied to packaging every time in passes down a line. In the process, the system all but eliminates the potentially-costly danger of misprinting, miscoding and missed QA checks.

JBT will be exhibiting at Booth #A1-209 at the Global Produce & Floral Show in the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida from October 27 – 29, 2022.