Potato packing solution for traceability reduced waste: premium app for potato packing, storage, and processing potato for wholesale & food service.

Potato packing solution for traceability reduced waste: premium app for potato packing, storage, and processing potato for wholesale & food service.

Brochures: 

[Potato packing solution] 

[Flower packing] 

[Food manufacturing]  

[Meat packing]  

[Farm management]  

[Fresh produce RFID]

99% less fresh produce packing waste

Accurate fresh produce & food inventory management reduces waste through better FIFO stock rotation, stock-takes, and inventory alerts. RFID pallet control (optional) for precision inventory tracking. 

Save time packing fruit & vegetables

Increase the efficiency of fresh produce inventory using options like scanning incoming bar-codes to reduce data entry & errors, integrate with scales for automatic weighing, ore RFID for automatic fresh produce inventory tracking.

Better fresh produce quality control

Guarantee the quality of your fresh produce packing with flexible fresh QC testing systems from your phone or tablet. Customer feedback management, supplier quality control and more...

Reduce fresh produce packing errors & control production

Project required inventory (and shortages), schedule orders to be packed in batches , automatic alerts to prodution line managers.

100% accurate fresh produce order shipping

Shipping teams are guided through the dispatch process from picking using a phone or tablet (optional bar-code scanning), automatic picking, thru bill of lading, invoice, and automatic shipping notifications for customers, transport, and sales teams.

Reduce fresh produce packing administration costs by 40%

Automatic generation of fresh produce labels, bill of lading, invoice, picking documents and more; reduces administrative burden.

Easy audit & recall systems reduces compliance costs.

Faster fresh produce inventory storage  inventory

Accurate fresh produce & food inventory management delivers reduced waste and increased employee productivity. Manage FIFO, improve stock-take accuracy, scan harvester data, and keep a watchful eye on your inventory... Easy stock-take identifies shrinkage and helps reduce waste from ageing. 

100% accurate fresh produce traceability

Maintain strict fresh produce traceability and high food safety standards always. Perform recalls based on lot/batch, pack date, invoice #, inventory #, pallet #, delivery date, purchase order #, or perform a recall on your own user defined data. Perform instant recalls both up and down the supply chain. Makes audits easy and instant. COVID-19 food safety & auditing available. 

Reduce fresh produce waste by 99%

Inventory control ensures there is no 'shrinkage', food inventory is FIFO managed, and expiring inventory always monitored.

Reduce administration time by 60%

Automatic paperwork, labels, and reporting reduces the burden on administration teams and saves everyone's time.

Better fresh produce quality now

Quality control and food safety has never been easier with industry standard quality tests, food safety checklists; or configure your own tests. 

100% accurate orders!

Guarantee only the correct inventory is shipped for each order, on time, every time.

Potato packing solution for traceability reduced waste: premium app for potato packing, storage, and processing potato for wholesale & food service.

Farmsoft fresh produce packing app is for fruit & vegetable packer, processor, import/export.  Full fresh produce traceability, auditing, inventory control, and fresh produce business management app.

Quality inspection for fresh produce

Consistent and accurate quality control ensures higher customer satisfaction and adherence to industry, de-facto, and in-house quality control standards. Track supplier quality performance, customer feedback & complaints, create QC tests for any part of the fresh produce & food manufacturing process (incoming goods, raw materials, finished goods, expiry test, export/shipping tests), daily factory hygiene, machinery calibration, employee checklists... 

Fresh produce logistics

Manage orders, pack to order, picking and auto picking, dispatch & shipping process. Generate invoices, bill of lading, pick slips, export documentation and other sales documents... Dispatch teams are guided through the dispatch process ensuring every order is filled perfectly, and on time. Paperwork such as BOL, freight documents, export documents are automatically generated based on the customer and destination to guarantee no rejected shipments or issues at borders.

Fresh produce labels

Generate fresh produce SSCC pallet labels, GS1 case & PTI labels, bin labels, batch labels, traded unit labels, harvest labels and more. Use the built in industry standard labels for Walmart, Woolworths, Aldi, Tesco, Loblaws etc - or design your own with the built in label & report designer. Our team can design all of your fresh produce documents to ensure farmsoft matches your requirements perfectly.

Fresh produce packing control

Sales, Quality, Profit, Dispatch, Pack, Farm...... Dashboards for sales teams provide instant impressions of customer orders and current inventory levels. The dispatch dashboard helps plan shipments, order of loading, and transport companies & drivers... The Profit analysis dashboard shows margins per unit and most profitable customers. Use our API to access your data however you like.

Fresh produce batch packing

Project required raw materials needed to pack/manufacture orders, potential shortages, schedule multiple orders to be packed in batches on selected production lines with a few clicks, automatically send new job alerts to managers, schedule additional harvests, analyze outstanding orders. Manage entire packing and manufacturing process with ease.

Fresh produce alerts monitoring

Automatic alerts for shipments can be sent to customers, transport providers, or even team members. Every time a batch is finished processing, receive an alert with the pack-out breakdown and percentages of grades & quality and waste. Alerts can include simple shipment notifications, or even invoices and original order details. Other alerts include order changes/modifications, yield reports, new order alerts, and low inventory alerts... 

Farm app option

Implement the farmsoft Farm Management suite to provide a comprehensive integrated business management solution from seed to plate. Includes automatic task management, best practices, budgeting, farm inventory, PHI enforcement, audits, residue reporting, USDA reporting, dashboards, recalls and more... 

Fresh produce supplier quality control

Suppliers must know that your business is measuring and tracking their performance. Any trends that effect the quality of fresh produce can be quickly detected, automatically traced back to the fresh produce supplier (especially if a result of a customer complaint / feedback), management and purchasing teams are automatically alerted when a supplier quality issue happens. Quantify your suppliers quality using the Supplier Quality Dashboard. 

Fresh produce finance apps

Share data with your Xero finance app, Quickbooks, MYOB, SAGE, using our API, or request our team perform a custom integration for your fresh produce company. This is an optional module, please ask your consultant for additional details and discuss your specific requirements, additional costs will apply for integration with your chosen finance app. 

Fresh produce RFID

Automatic tracking of each pallet’s exact location. Makes loading orders accurate and easy, stops errors during shipping. Very low costs to setup your hardware using farmsoft’s innovative RFID for fresh produce solution. Pallets put onto truck are auto added to order, and checked for accuracy. Pick up a pallet and its RFID instantly selected. Add pallet/bin to production line and its auto added to batch for traceability.

Fresh produce API

Integrate with virtually any other app or software solution using the farmsoft API. It's open! Anyone can use it. Your in house I.T. team, or any external I.T. vendor you want to help you with integration. Add your own reports, extract special data, or even create new interfaces between farmsoft and any app such as accounting, payroll, B2B, B2C. Other integration in farmsoft includes the ability to integrate with selected weigh scales to capture fresh produce net delivery weights.

Fresh produce bloch-chain

Increase customer confidence and prove the credentials of your traceability integrity and transparency with block-chain ledger technology.   We use the chain-trace.com blockchain solution. (Optional module not included with standard Packing / Food Manufacturing ERP solution).

Improve fresh produce production planning

Efficient management customer orders, and the ability to analyze orders gives you new production planning tolls in farmsoft. Ensure each order is filled to exact specifications, on time, every time. Increase customer satisfaction and retention, and reduce stress in the packhouse with confident production planning using work orders/batch orders, sales contracts, sales orders, and sales order items. Are you manufactruing or processing chili products? Try farmsoft for chili processing. 

Accurate fresh produce traceability

Quality officers are guided through the quality control process, presented with images and instructions for each test, ensuring they know what to look for at all times, corrective actions are presented if a quality issue is detected. This makes training new fresh produce quality control officers fast, and ensures consistency in the quality control management processes for incoming fresh produce, post pack/post processing, storage, and dispatch. 

Efficient use of fresh produce cold stores

Maximize your cold store use and rotation of stock using farmsoft's pallet maps, and precision traceability tracking with expiring inventory reminders.
Cold store management software for fruit importers, exporters, packers, cross docking, and short and long term fruit storage.

Potato packing solution for traceability reduced waste: premium app for potato packing, storage, and processing potato for wholesale & food service.

The farmsoft inventory control app provides business wide quality management inspection systems for fresh produce, food manufacturing, seed processing, meat packing & processing, and flower packing.

Tesco food safety compliance food packers
Tesco food safety compliance for food manufacturers, packers, import, export, wholesale.  Tesco customers expect us to only sell products made to the highest quality and that are responsibly sourced. They trust us to ensure that all our products are safe and comply with all the applicable laws and regulations.

Within Tesco we have a number of highly skilled teams and colleagues across the globe that are dedicated to ensuring our customer expectations are not only met but exceeded. They manage the quality of products from the original product concept right through to our stores and customers.
Although this page is based on our UK business, a similar approach is taken across our international markets whilst ensuring all legal and cultural differences are acknowledged and catered for.  Through understanding customers and their needs, product and market trends our expert team of developers work hard to bring great quality, innovative and value for money products to the market; our dedicated team of food researchers and chefs constantly review food trends and bring new food ideas to life to meet those customer needs.
Fresh Produce Bar Code Scanning

Fresh produce bar code scanning in agriculture easily delivers improved traceability in the fruit boxing and fresh produce packing space.  The FarmSoft team has add new features to the FarmSoft packhouse mobile (smart phone, iphone, tablets, and PDA’s) interfaces and new interfaces for in line bar-code scanning to allow rapid recording of packed fruit and vegetable via bar-code systems. Implement FarmSoft to make your fresh produce fruit packing easier and more efficient. FarmSoft delivers bar code scanning for packing sheds, packhouses, and fruit packers, exporters, importers and wholesalers.

FarmSoft fresh produce bar code scanning allows users to choose from a mobile interface that allows smartphones and PDA devices to scan boxed and packed fresh produce to record pallet contents. Fresh produce inventory and stock management with bar code systems ensures traceability and accuracy. FarmSoft’s bar code software for pack sheds makes fresh produce inventory control easy.

Bar-code traceability

FarmSoft bar code traceability is rapid to implement, and easy to maintain. Implementing FarmSoft bar code traceability for fresh produce processing delivers increased accuracy of traceability, easy inventory management, and can result in reduced fresh produce waste.
FarmSoft bar code traceability provides multiple fruit labeling solutions which can be tailored to meet client inventory handling requirements.
Bar code traceability
FarmSoft bar code traceability provides a comprehensive fruit traceability system for packhouses, pack sheds, and fruit and vegetable processors. FarmSoft bar code traceability makes fresh produce inventory handling easy! Contact FarmSoft today to receive these benefits.
Case level traceability

Case level traceability brings fresh produce processors, packers, and marketers easy and rapid traceability. Implement FarmSoft in no time at all, and start reducing processing waste!  Easy to deploy, farmsoft case level traceability is the best friend of any company looking to improve traceability in their food / fresh produce processing enterprise. Farmsoft delivers tangible improvements in food safety compliance and standards maintenance. Implementing farmsoft case level traceability for fresh produce processing delivers increased accuracy of traceability, easy inventory management, and can result in reduced fresh produce waste.


Farm to fork traceability for reliable food safety and best handling practices for fresh produce – while reducing waste and increasing efficiency!  FarmSoft’s farm to fork traceability solution delivers bullet proof fresh produce traceability management in every way. FarmSoft’s farm to fork traceability solution channels staff through the correct farming and fresh produce handling processes ensuring maximum food safety and traceability is being maintained at all times.

Combine both FarmSoft Farm Software AND FarmSoft Fruit Packing Software to create a complete farm to fork traceability solution.
In addition to the traceability features of FarmSoft, the system also provides a comprehensive fresh produce business management suite that takes care of every section of your business including: quality control, invoice, dispatch, sales, contracts, staff labor, packing labor, packhouse reporting and more.


Fresh Produce Traceability India – FarmSoft’s fresh produce management software brings new levels of traceability and efficiency to Indian farming and fresh produce packing, processing, and exporting.  FarmSoft guides users through the fresh produce handling procedures to ensure the safest, highest quality fruit and vegetables with minimum waste. From quality control, waste analysis, to fresh produce labeling – FarmSoft delivers for professional fruit and vegetable processors and packers. Download FarmSoft’s Fresh Produce Traceability India specifications here.

FarmSoft India
Professionally manage and monitor all post harvest processes including quality control, storage, inventory, sorting, grading, washing, packing, sales, invoice, and dispatch.
Traceability requirements matrix fresh produce

Traceability requirements matrix fresh produce packing, processing, value adding.   Traceability requirements matrix fresh produce
Traceability requirements matrix in fresh produce

EASY TRACEABILITY
Makes fresh inventory food safety compliance & audits easy.
Traceability requirements matrix fresh produce
Traceability requirements matrix fresh produce.
Blockchain for fresh produce traceability

Visit our official fresh produce blockchain site for the latest fresh produce blockchain information.
Ask your farmsoft consultant if your chosen block-chain protocol or format is supported.
Blockchain – Essential for Fresh Produce Traceability
 
The Produce Traceability Initiative, was designed to help the Produce Industry maximize the effectiveness of current traceback procedures, while developing a standardized industry approach to enhance the speed and efficiency.
Food Traceability Software

FarmSoft food traceability software delivers bulletproof food safety and reduces business risk.  The FarmSoft is built on a solid platform of food traceability and safety standards. FarmSoft guides users through the food processing and manufacturing phases. The FarmSoft food traceability software suite specializes in processing and manufacturing involving fresh produce, fruit, and vegetables. Dried, cured, juiced, pulped, or even made into value added jelly and jams. Click here to download food traceability software specifications.

Fresh Produce Traceability Bar-code

Fresh Produce Traceability Bar-codes for fruit & vegetable packers, processors, and food manufacturers.  Fresh Produce Traceability is much more than applying a label to the packed fruit or vegetable. FarmSoft delivers strict fresh produce traceability guidelines for supply chain end to end food safety & transparency.

Ensuring that the traceability chain has no gaps in it is important to reduce the risk exposure of your business. If there is a breach in the traceability chain, then the whole traceability enforcement system has failed and becomes a pointless expense. FarmSoft ensures 100% accuracy of traceability throughout the entire life-cycle of fresh produce, from pre-planting, to post sales traceability guideline adherence. FarmSoft ensures your business is not unnecessarily exposed, while minimizing compliance costs. 

GS1 Traceability for fresh produce


FarmSoft GS1 traceability system does much more than just print labels! Manage your inventory, maintain traceability, pack, process, and store fresh produce. Perform sales and dispatch and invoicing. Reduce fresh produce waste.  FarmSoft GS1 traceability system does much more than just print labels! Manage your inventory, maintain traceability, pack, process, and store fresh produce. Perform sales and dispatch and invoicing. Reduce fresh produce waste.
farmsoft makes fresh produce GS1 traceability easy!
SAVE TIME
LESS WASTE
BETTER FRUIT
NO ERRORS
ACCURATE SHIPPING
REDUCE COST
Increase the efficiency of fresh produce deliveries using options like scanning incoming bar-codes to reduce data entry, save time, and reduce errors. Scan incoming fresh produce deliveries or use "one touch" rapid inventory creation screens to increase accuracy & reduce data entry time.


FarmSoft track and trace provides end to end supply chain transparency for fresh produce traceability. Implement FarmSoft to guarantee the highest level of traceability both up and down the supply chain!  FarmSoft track and trace is a comprehensive fresh produce business management solution that caters for all operational processes from quality control, inventory, sales, dispatch, and orders. FarmSoft even provides food manufacturing, good manufacturing management, and value adding features. FarmSoft track and trace software provides many innovative features to bring easily maintained benefits to the fresh produce processor, packer, and marketer.

Using the FarmSoft traceability code, customers, and end consumers can track and trace fresh produce simply by scanning a QR code with their smartphone. The track and trace system will then present the customer/end consumer with the traceability or marketing information as chosen by the packer. This helps to improve customer confidence and provides supply chain transparency to promote the concept of food safety.
Produce Traceability Initiative PTI

Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI), HACCP, GlobalGAP, CanGAP, EuroGAP, BRC, Bio-Terrorism, ISO and more…Simple PTI solution - software for fruit and vegetable processing

MINIMIZE WASTE
Farmsoft delivers opportunities to reduce waste during the packing, processing, storage, and distribution phases. By enforcing best practices, FIFO (when practical), inventory expiry monitoring, and easy stock takes - your company has every opportunity to minimize waste and maximize profit. From bar code managed inventory, inventory labeling, to 3D pallet storage, farmsoft delivers on reduced waste.
TRACEABILITY MADE EASY
Perform recalls in seconds, with the full confidence of accuracy and reliability. Minimize risk by ensuring accurate traceability is automatically captured. Pass audits with ease & reduce compliance costs using farmsofts traceability guidelines. Trace fresh produce up and down the supply chain, over multiple traceability hops. Instantly produce spray records, residue analysis, soil analysis, and any other farm traceability records if you use our farm solution.

Inventory traceability software for reduced post harvest waste

Inventory traceability software
The purpose of the Fruit & Vegetables implementation guidance is to provide best practice guidelines for industry-wide adoption for New Item Listing and update of existing assortment. This guide provides support to companies seeking to electronically exchange fruit & vegetable product information in accordance with GS1 Standards. The guidance applies to the full range of fruit & vegetable trade items. The guide outlines which attributes should be used for fruit & vegetable items and recommends best practices for the use of these standards to exchange static fruit & vegetable data between suppliers and retailers. Today, different platforms as well as different means to item identification exist when it comes to data sharing. Traceability case study for Paramount Citrus, Traceability case study for Mother Earth Organic Mushrooms, SunFed visibility of produce throughout supply chain with case and item level traceability. JemD Farms, greenhouse grower with GS1 Standards and the Produce Traceability Initiative.
The use of GS1 Standards, specifically for Identification, Master Data Alignment, Traceability, Track and Trace, Barcode labels and EDI transactions, provides a common platform to help supply.
Simple traceability solution

Simple traceability solution - software for fruit and vegetable packing
Processors and packers involved in the fresh produce industry deal with a lot of compliance and traceability issues. If the worst happens and a product recall needs to be effected immediately, they have to be able to trace where the raw ingredients of fruit and vegetables came from, what was done to them, when and where the finished products have gone.
Fresh produce processors and packers manufacturers are subject to quality audits and they can often practice recalls and food safety incidents. From a business perspective, these activities often can be expensive and cumbersome to comply with, without the use of a simple traceability solution that is integrated into the businesses fresh produce handling processes and guidelines.
As a supplier to the food manufacturing or fresh produce processing or handling and retail industry, quality control and traceability are key for any manufacturer. Farmsoft delivers solutions in Australia, USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Africa, and Asian regions. Use farmsoft to become compliant and increased efficiency.

Less waste, more traceability

Less waste, more traceability: Full featured software for fresh produce processing, packing, sales, export/import & distribution.  MINIMIZE FRESH PRODUCE WASTE

For handlers of perishable goods, reduce waste during packing, processing, cold store, order picking and dispatch phases. Enforce GMP and best practices, FIFO (when practical), inventory expiry monitoring, and easy stock takes to help minimize waste and maximise profit. Receive detailed alerts when waste is encountered through quality issues, or possible human error.
Learn more about farmsoft post harvest solutions
Manage your fruit & vegetable packing / processing operation with a simple traceability solution, or implement a comprehensive enterprise management solution. Easily comply with standards for Walmart, Tesco, Woolworths, Aldi, Loblaw, Coles, USDA, FSMA, GFSI, AANZFTA, PTI, HACCP - for full inventory traceability using PC/Mac or traceability app.
LESS WASTE.
MORE TRACEABILITY!

Fresh produce export documentation

Farmsoft makes fresh produce export documentation easy with new features that generate international standard fresh produce export documentation for fresh produce producers, processors, and packers.   Rapidly generate fresh produce export documentation on demand!

Farmsoft makes fresh produce export documentation easy with new features that generate international standard fresh produce export documentation for fresh produce producers, processors, and packers. The modern packing and processing facility is busy environment. Dealing with the excess of export regulations and paperwork requirements can often be a headache. Farmsoft guides users through the documentation process, reducing administration costs, and increasing productivity.
Contact a farmsoft consultant today to discuss your fresh produce export documentation options today.
Farmsoft takes the effort out of preparing fresh produce export documentation for fruit, vegetable, coffee, hop, and grain producers by generating commonly used export documentation.  

Reduce fresh produce waste, Orders - Quality - Production - Sales & shipping - Recalls & audits - Dashboards, analysis, business intelligence.   Reduce fresh produce waste, make production and shipments 100% accurate

Strict inventory management ensures FIFO and no orphaned fresh produce inventory, no loss of inventory due handling processes.
Production management ensures every order is filled accurately, dispatch is planned in advance, and correct shipments dispatched on time, every time.
Sales dashboards help marketing and sales teams plan orders, schedule production, and identify any fresh produce that needs to be sold before it becomes waste.
A choice of interfaces to suit every environment gives your team a simple fresh produce business management tool.
Manage fresh produce inventory stored at an unlimited number of sites / packhouses, and unlimited warehouses
Manage and monitor the storage and status (ie: in processes such as sorting, grading, cooling, ripening etc) of all fresh produce inventory, regardless of its state.

Potato packing solution for traceability reduced waste: premium app for potato packing, storage, and processing potato for wholesale & food service.

Manage the entire potato packing process from delivery, processing (sizing, sorting, french fries manufacture, grading) thru to to sales, dispatch, and traceability & recall.





Market Report Austria, KW 13:
'Breather for potato packing companies, increasing onion exports'
The situation on the Austrian market for table potatoes has settled again after the extremely turbulent past weeks. Many households are now well stocked with food. Sales in the food retail trade have declined accordingly in recent days. In any case, the catering and wholesale trade has been almost at a standstill since the beginning of last week. Exports are also still not an issue. Uncertainty in view of the recent sales slackness does not arise however in the industry. Inventories are now quite manageable and should be sufficient for domestic supplies until the start of the early potato season. Farmers are also still willing to sell.

There is no change in prices compared to the previous week. In Lower Austria at the beginning of the week a price range of 22 to 28 Euro/100 kg depending on variety and quality was mentioned, whereby 25 Euro/100 kg are usually paid for wireworm-free, small packable premium goods with AMA quality seal. Prices of up to 32 Euro/100 kg were reported from Upper Austria. However, only very manageable quantities are available here.

Potato packing by farmsoft for less waste and better potato traceability in potato packing & processing
Potato packing by farmsoft for less waste and better potato traceability in potato packing & processing
Rising export numbers
The Austrian onion market is still characterised by strong demand. Sales in the domestic food retail trade have calmed down again after the numerous stockpiling purchases by consumers in recent weeks. Recently there has been increasing interest in exports, especially from South-Eastern Europe. Export prices have risen accordingly. There are no price changes on the domestic market for the time being. For onions, cleaned and sorted in the box, prices between 24 and 28 Euro/100 kg were recently paid. For qualitatively weaker or smaller batches, the price level is lower.

Potato packing by farmsoft for less waste and better potato traceability in potato packing & processing
Potato packing by farmsoft for less waste and better potato traceability in potato packing & processing
Sales in the food retail sector are normalising
The Lower Austrian carrot market continues to be in good shape. Sales in the domestic food retail sector have recently returned to normal. Exports are reporting increasing interest in Austrian goods. There is no change in price for the time being.

NC sweet potato grower successfully installs new packing line
Southern Produce Distributors, Inc. a grower, packer and shipper of sweet potatoes, has installed a new packing line in their warehouse facility located in Faison, NC.


The new packing line, a Hagan 2, runs simultaneously with Southern Produce’s original packing line, doubling efficiency and minimizing operational costs. The Hagan 2 runs five lanes with a computerized “photohead” sizer that measures the dimensions of the sweet potatoes to ensure consistent shape and weight.


“The Hagan optical heads are ideal for the way we pack our produce,” stated Heath Johnsey, Operations Manager for Southern Produce, “It allows Southern Produce to fit any packing size that’s required by any customer. With the Hagan 2, we can sort from the smallest to the largest sweet potato that may fit customers’ needs.”

Furthermore, it has a state-of-the-art box scale system, which allows for precise weight determination and real-time adjustability.
Since becoming fully operational on January 1, 2018, the new packing line has been tested to its full capacity and to its lowest capacity with minimum to no issues.

“We continuously strive to initiate innovative ways to be more competitive and offer exceptional product to our customers, stated Kelley Precythe, President and owner of Southern Produce, “The addition of a packing line enables us to do just that.”

Potato packing company receives ACOA support
W.P. Griffin, a potato packer in Elmsdale, Canada has receieved ACOA support for the installation of ventilation equipment designed to extend storage time while preserving the quality of the produce.

The Atlantic Provinces Opportunities Agency (ACOA) is providing West Prince potato packer with a $103,612 repayable contribution to help with equipment upgrades. ACOA claims the equipment will extend the packing season and create opportunities for more year-round employment in the industry.

Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for ACOA, suggested the investment is an example of government putting in place the right conditions for growth. He believes the funding should help the industry grow and benefit the community with the creation of more jobs that were once only seasonal.

source: journalpioneer.com



Kenya: German firm to set up seven potato packing plants
The potato sector in Nyandarua county has received a major boost after an international German firm has committed to set up seven potato pack houses. The officials of BASF, a leading chemical company, visited Nyandarua governor Francis Kimemia, where they pledged to support the project estimated to cost over Sh500 million (€4.4 mln).

The county and the company are set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding in April of this year. BASF Vice President for Africa, Michael Gotsche, expects the construction work to commence in October: “Through BASF’s Performance Material Solutions, Nyandarua farmers will be able to store their produce under hygienic and optimum storage conditions in packhouse facilities currently being developed.”

He noted that a technical committee whose activities would be coordinated by Kenya Investment Authority had been formed to see to it that the project run smoothly.

Source: capitalfm.co.ke



UK veg firm plans potato packing operation move
A leading UK vegetable supplier, QV Foods, says it has entered a period of consultation with about 140 staff at March, Cambridgeshire, as it prepares to move the operation to Holbeach.



The firm says if the move goes ahead it will create 125 new roles at Holbeach.



A spokeswoman for the £140 million a year turnover company refused to say how many staff currently work at the Holbeach site.



The company stresses that it hopes to minimise redundancies by finding suitable roles for as many of its affected March employees as possible.



“The proposal would help the company address its cost base and capacity needs for current business volumes whilst creating headroom for future growth.”



“The owners of QV Foods are fully committed to growing the business for the future, but the company has to have an efficient cost platform on which to do this.”



“The proposal to consolidate the potato business at the Holbeach site, which sits at the centre of our farming and packing operations, is a logical step to achieving this.”



Source: Peterborough Today/ potatopro.com



Would Polish potato shortfall benefit UK packing market?
A strong demand for fresh packing supplies from Eastern Europe helped provide support to the packing market in the latter half of the 2018/19 season. The competitive pricing of Scottish potatoes last season (2018/19) meant that UK exporters were able to out-compete traditional suppliers to the region. In July-May, UK fresh exports to Poland (14.8Kt) have doubled from average and those to the Czech Republic (5.6Kt) have tripled.

In a typical year, Polish import activity gets into full swing from March onwards, with the majority of potatoes sourced from Germany (c.30%) and France (c.10%). Last season the continental tightness allowed the UK to seize a bigger piece of the pie, making up 20% of total Polish imports so far (July-April).

This year, as a result of the ongoing hot temperatures and drought, production in Poland and the Czech Republic is likely to fall significantly below average again this season. Over 90% of the Czech Republic remains in drought with 23% of the country classified as being in extreme drought, which will have a detrimental effect on yields. Poland also looks to have severe shortfalls in production this season with current estimates of c.6.5Mt (see figure 1), a 1Mt drop from last season and 18% below the five year average.

Germany, Poland’s main supplier of fresh potatoes, has suffered over the past few months due to the heat and lack of rain. The recent rainfall and lower temperatures appear to have done little to help out German growers and the potato crop. Soil moisture levels in Germany remain low and much of lower Saxony, a key growing region, is in severe to extreme drought. This means that Germany is likely to have reduced export potential.

Click here for the full article.



“It's a good time for potatoes”
Last year’s heat wave had disastrous effects on potato harvests throughout Europe, resulting in extremely low yields. With this year’s harvest just around the corner in Sweden, though, the predicted yields are looking good. Anders Eriksson from Swedish potato packing company L.E.V. says: “This year we had a good summer with a nice mix between rain and sunshine. It is still a little early to say for sure, but so far the crop looks good.”

Potato packing by farmsoft for less waste and better potato traceability in potato packing & processing
Potato packing by farmsoft for less waste and better potato traceability in potato packing & processing
The company works with 20 growers all around Sweden who are mostly located between Stockholm and Göteberg. Anders explains: “Most of our growers are in the same area as our company, but we also have some that are in regions further away. This helps minimize risk for us and allows us to work with growers that have specialized in certain varieties.” The company works with locally grown potatoes for most of the year, but in the summer months from June through August they import: “We begin in Malta and Cyprus in June and then we move northward as the summer progresses and import from France, Germany, Denmark. Then, at this time of the year we are back to using the Swedish crop,” says Anders.

The company works closely with Swedish retailer ICA, being the retailer’s main potato supplier. Through ICA’s collaboration with the Baltic retailer Rimi, L.E.V. has also begun supplying its potatoes to the Baltic region. Anders says “The main volumes being sold in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are unwashed and packed in bags of 25kg. So we provide them with more specialized varieties, like small salad varieties and bags of 900 grams.”

Potato packing by farmsoft for less waste and better potato traceability in potato packing & processing
Potato packing by farmsoft for less waste and better potato traceability in potato packing & processing
The company certainly does not have a shortage of varieties. Just like many European countries, the main distinction made between varieties depends on the purpose for which it is used: firm potatoes for boiling, baking or roasting, and softer, more mealy potatoes that are used for mashing. Nowadays, however, consumers are more aware of the specific varieties being offered and have become interested in the different types. Anders states: “Historically, Swedish consumers have preferred potatoes for mashing, but in the past decade we have seen this change. Today, generally consumers want potatoes that work for everything: mashing, but also boiling, baking, or roasting; they want an all-around potato. The salad variety is also really popular with consumers. These are smaller potatoes that can easily be roasted in the oven. For us, the most popular varieties are the Melody, as an all-around potato, and the Amandine for the salad variety.”

The company is introducing a new variety this fall: La Vie. This variety comes from HZPC and was spotted by L.E.V. two years ago. The company tries to regularly introduce new varieties, and after testing over twenty different kinds they decided that La Vie was good addition to their selection. Anders adds: “There are so many varieties on the market currently that if we want to introduce something new we have to retire an existing variety. This means that if we decide to introduce something new it has to be just as good or better than what we already have. La Vie fits that requirement and our first full harvest of this variety will begin soon.”

Potato packing by farmsoft for less waste and better potato traceability in potato packing & processing
Potato packing by farmsoft for less waste and better potato traceability in potato packing & processing
According to Anders, it is a good time to be in the potato business. “In the past, the popularity of potatoes has gone up and down, but today potatoes are trending. Chefs on television have started mentioning actual variety names, instead of potato type and this has made the consumer more interested in the selection of varieties as well. The potato is even the main ingredient that will be used in the finale of Chef of the Year in Sweden. Usually they choose an ingredient that is really unique or specific, so it is quite special that they have chosen potatoes this year, and this shows the current popularity of the product,” he concludes.

Complete packaging solutions for packing potatoes
Everyone who has ever bought potatoes in a supermarket knows that you can get potato packaging in every shape and size. Small packages, large packages, from pillow bags to doy-style packages and tray packaging - everything is possible. JASA, therefore, has a perfect solution for every packaging question.

Potato packaging in every size
A few years ago the packages containing 5 to 10 kilograms of potatoes were very popular. Now we see a shift towards the packages containing 300 gram to 1.5 kilograms of potatoes. “Nowadays there are more different kinds of potatoes available. Older potatoes varieties are making a comeback”, Piet Pannekeet, founder of JASA, explains. “Because of that, the consumers are eating a larger variety of potatoes and therefore are buying smaller packages.” To meet the demands of the market, JASA is offering complete packaging solutions and packaging lines for all types of potatoes.

“You will see potatoes in a wide range of different packages”, Piet Pannekeet explains. “Some are packed in a plastic bag, while others are packed in a plastic sealed cardboard tray. For years these two ways were the norm to pack potatoes, but now we can replace the plastic packaging with paper: Bag-2-Paper™.”

Complete solutions to pack potatoes
JASA offers complete packaging solutions for unprocessed potatoes, from sorting machines to the outfeed belt. “Depending on the wishes of the customer, we can make a fully automated line.”  The cured tubers of variety Kufri Chipsona-4 were subjected to the sprout inhibiting treatment viz., hot water dip treatment (57.5±0.1oC for 20 min) along with control and were packed in nylon mesh bags, MAP (modified atmosphere packaging) and vacuum packaging. The tubers were stored for 5 weeks at room temperature conditions (32±2oC; RH ~90%)and sampled at the 7-day interval. A progressive increase in decay loss and shrivelling of potato tubers was observed during storage. Hot water dip treated tubers showed significantly lower decay loss and shrivelling than untreated tubers. Among various packaging methods, minimum decay loss was observed in net bag packaging while vacuum packaged tubers had significantly higher decay loss.

Through an industrial weigher, the sorted potatoes are weighed in exact portions. After that, the portions are packed in their respective packages. Through the outfeed belt, they are transported to the case packers or baler before they are shipped to the supermarkets and consumers.

Optical sorting machine for potatoes
To supply the best potatoes to the consumers, the potatoes are sorted by size and quality before they enter the packing line. JASA also offers solutions for this situation. Not only does the Newtec Celox machine sort the potatoes by size but it also scans the potatoes for quality. With the help of cameras, the potatoes are then analyzed before they are sorted accordingly. This process is incredibly fast and very accurate.

The effect of seven packaging materials (transparent perforated and non-perforated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bags, black perforated and non-perforated low-density polyethylene (LDPE) bags, nylon gunny sacks, khaki bags and net bags) on post-harvest quality of tubers from three potato cultivars was evaluated. Data were collected on time and percentage of sprouting, weight loss rates and percentage tubers with greening and rotting. Packaging significantly reduced weight loss and rate of tuber greening but increased the rate of sprouting and decay incidences. Non-perforated PE bags were the most effective in reducing weight losses, recording losses of 0.7 to 0.9% after 32 days in storage while unpackaged tubers had weight losses of 11 to 12%. Tuber rotting was highest (60 to 66% of the tubers) in non-perforated PE bags. Greening was faster in non-packaged tubers recording 55 to 100% after 2 weeks in storage and showed high cultivar differences, but did not occur in black bags, whether perforated or non-perforated. Sprouting was complete by week 3 in all tubers packaged in non-perforated HDPE bags irrespective of cultivar. Although the non-perforated HDPE bag packaging prevented weight loss, its positive effect was counteracted by the high incidence of rotting and sprouting. Amongst the different materials evaluated, perforated low-density black PE bags were the best method for ware potato packaging due to low sprouting, reduced weight loss, low rate of tuber greening and reduced rate of tuber decay compared to other packaging materials. The study also indicated that the interaction between cultivars, packaging and storage period also affected shelf life of ware potatoes under ambient tropical conditions.
JASA helps you find the best solution
There are so many possibilities. Therefore, it’s really helpful if someone helps you find the right solution. Not only are there a number of ways to pack potatoes, but there are also a number of methods to keep the potatoes fresh in their packaging. This helps give the potatoes a longer shelf life but also keeps them good after purchase. The longer the potatoes stay fresh, the less it will produce food waste. “JASA can help to come up with the perfect solution for our customers”, Piet Pannekeet explains. “It all depends on whether you are packing processed or unprocessed potatoes. With certain packaging techniques, we can create the most optimal conditions for the products. Together with the customers, we look at the wishes and the possibilities before creating a complete packaging line.”

Multifunctional lines for potatoes
Multifunctionality is an important part of the process for JASA and her customers. “We want to create flexible machines that offer several packaging solutions. We want to make sure that our machines have a very short changeover time. We can also add a bypass to the line. This gives our customers the option to pack the potatoes in both trays and bags at the same time, increasing the packaging capacity per minute. Depending on the chosen options, our lines can process 25-100 packages per minute.”

Sustainable packaging for potatoes
There are a few factors involved when choosing your new packaging solution. The first factor is to create a good work environment. We need to decide which machines need to be included and how we can optimize the complete packaging line. The next thing we will look at is which packages the customer wants to create and how can we make sure that the potatoes will be packed in the right conditions. The flexibility of the machine also plays a part in choosing the right machine. On top of that, sustainable packaging also plays a large role in the choice of the correct packaging solution.

With a focus on less plastic packaging, less environmental pollution, and more sustainable solutions, there is a new kind of pressure on the packaging industry. That’s why JASA created Bag-2-Paper™. This new revolutionary paper packaging solution is for products such as unprocessed potatoes. The potatoes are packed in 100% paper* packages. These paper packages can be recycled with the rest of the papers.

Sustainable tray packaging for potatoes
Are you currently packing potatoes in a plastic sealed cardboard tray to keep the potatoes in place? We have a new sustainable solution for this too! Our new cardboard sleeve is a good alternative for the plastic packaging around the trays. The sleeve keeps the potatoes in place while keeping them visible at the same time. It’s the perfect solution for unprocessed potatoes. This will create a packaging solution that is 100% suitable for recycling.

Looking for a complete solution to pack potatoes? Reach out to our sales team, they are always happy to advise you on the possibilities for you.

France
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General Information
- There is a lot of different packaging materials for potatoes.



These materials include :

net bags

jute bags

film bags

woven bags

paper bags

trays

transport packaging / Big Bags





References:
https://www.nnz.com/potatoes-4.html
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Luis Pacheco
Canada
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General Information
-Potatoes are ready for harvest once the vines have been completely dead for at least seven to 14 days. The temperature of the potato is critical to a successful harvest. Never harvest when pulp or internal temperatures of the tubers are below 7°C or above 18°C.

-Harvesting at low temperatures leads to bruising, while crops harvested at high temperatures are prone to tuber breakdown from bacterial soft rot and pythium. Soil water capacity should be 65 per cent at harvest, as this will permit the soil to be carried over the primary bed of the harvester, cushioning the tubers as they go up the harvester chains.

-Potatoes can be lifted with a one or two-row potato digger and then picked by hand, or they can be harvested with a potato harvester. A potato harvester digs the tubers, conveys them over a series of beds that separates out the soil and places them in a bulk truck. Windrowers are simplified harvesters that travel in front of the main harvester, digging the potatoes and placing them between intact rows. The harvester then digs these rows. Windrowers increase the efficiency and decrease the time needed to finish harvest, but the added handling step results in more damage to the crop.

-If frost has occurred, potatoes should not be dug until the ground has thawed, otherwise the crop will be prone to damage and breakdown in storage.


References:
https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/agriculture-natural-resources-and-industry/agribusiness-farmers-and-ranchers/crops-and-irrigation/horticultural-crops/potatoes
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Rajjun Sahota
India
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[Fresh Potatoes and Chilled Potatoes Table Potatoes]

-Corrugated Fibreboard Box of 10 KG with required number of holes for air ventilation and protective liner for moisture protection

-Jute Bags of 25, 10 mm from the edge and number of stitches per 10 cm to be between 9 & 11

-Polypropylene Leno bags of 25 KG with bottom sewing by chain sewing type and mouth sewing by over lock or chain stitching

References:
http://apeda.gov.in/apedawebsite/six_head_product/Brochure_05_Onion_&_Potatoes.pdf
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Chayan Mukherjee
Tanzania
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General Information
- After harvesting, potatoes are manually packed in lumbesa sack (120kgs). The Tanzania Bureau of Standards has standardised and indicates that 100-kilogram bags should be used for packing

References:
https://allafrica.com/stories/201706080704.html
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/14923124.pdf
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Job Ndiango
Ukraine
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General Information
- The most common packaging in a grid bag with the tie, weigh of 3 kg, 10 kg, 15 kg, 20 kg, 23 kg, 30 kg and 40 kg.

- Less common packaging in LDPE plastic containers, weigh of 2 kg, 8 kg, 10 kg, and 15 kg and wood containers.

- For potato transportation used containers, baskets, crate boxes, polypropylene bags. Transportation of potatoes in bulk is allowed in the period of mass harvesting and sale.

References:
https://agroterem.com.ua/g2180526-setka-fasovachnaya
http://tbncom.com/publ/avtomobilnye_perevozki_road_transport/refrizheratory/vidi_tari_dlja_perevezennja_kartopli_ta_ovochiv/16-1-0-125
http://med-plast.com.ua/ua/produkciya/izdeliya_iz_plastmasy/yashchiki_plastmassovye/yawiki_dlya_kartowki/
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Taras Kostiv
Spain
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- From collection, potatoes are washed, disinfected and selected according to grades and sizes.

- Depending on their target market (Fresh, manufacture, export), they are allocated in pallets, sacks, or packs.

- For the consumer market it is common to pack potatoes in netted sacks of 2kg, 5kg or 10kg. It is also common to find them in bulk in stores and supermarkets.

- For the export market, it is common to use carton/plastic boxes to pack them. Boxes are then stack up in pallets and labelled. Sacks of up to 20kg-25kg are also used. This are also stacked up in pallets and labelled accordingly.

References:
http://www.patatasgomez.com/procesos/envasado-de-la-patata-pesado-envasado-y-paletizacion/
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Adan Rodriguez
Egypt
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General Information
-In 20 and 25 pp bags with black linen from inside to stop light getting in.

-In 1, 1.25 and 1.5 tons Jumbo bag.