Westfalia Fruit Colombia, a subsidiary of Westfalia Fruit, a South African leader in the supply of subtropical fruit, opened a new processing plant for Hass avocados.
The new facility is one of the largest and most advanced avocado processing plants in the country, featuring the latest grading and sorting technologies of world-leading packinghouse technology provider Compac.
The new plant significantly extends the processing capacity of Westfalia Fruit Colombia, adding to the two facilities it already runs in Antioquia. The company started operation in the production, packing and sale of Hass avocados for export in 2012, and has developed rapidly in the country’s fast-growing avocado industry, which has seen exports increase by 413 percent from $10.3 million in 2015 to $52.9 million in 2017.
In just six years Westfalia Fruit Colombia has exported more than 800 containers to international destinations across the world such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, the United States, Spain, Canada and Saudi Arabia, quickly becoming the country’s first exporter of Hass avocados. With the investment in the new facility, the company expects to triple its production capacity to support its continued growth.
“This inauguration is an event of great significance for Colombia’s Hass avocado export industry,” said Pedro Aguilar-Niño, general manager of Westfalia Fruit Colombia. “Such an investment on the part of a global company is a sign of great confidence in this country. This processing plant has the highest capacity and the most advanced technology in the country — it is a strong statement of belief in the region, which becomes a true cluster for the production and export of Hass avocados. For us at Westfalia, our experience with the community in this municipality has been instrumental in our decision to make this further significant investment. We have equipped the plant with the advanced systems provided by New Zealand company Compac, part of TOMRA Food — a true leader in cutting edge fruit grading and sorting technology. Together, we will be able to contribute to the development of our sector.”
The new processing plant benefits from the advanced packinghouse technologies of the Compac Multi Lane Sorter and Inspectra2 systems.
“These solutions will provide the answers to Westfalia Fruit Colombia’s requirements,” said Jacinto Trigo, Compac Latin America regional director. “They ensure the consistently high quality of its product and optimize grading precision. Together with the high quality after-sales service that Compac is able to deliver, its packinghouse technology enables the company to meet its requirements in post-harvest processing capacity, minimize waste, and ensure its customers’ satisfaction.”
The five-lane Compac MLS can process 25 tons of avocados per hour, ensuring the capacity required by Westfalia Fruit Colombia. The fruit is then ready for inspection by the Inspectra2 platform, which uses near-infrared technology to test the internal properties of each piece of fruit and deliver consistently high grading accuracy. It detects defects that are not visible externally and sorts the good from the bad, eliminating the need to cut samples of fruit.
Most importantly, it grades the avocados on dry matter and softness, which indicate the maturity of the fruit. This allows Westfalia to pack the produce according to the customer’s requirements and where they are in the supply chain, ensuring they receive the highest quality fruit at optimal maturity for their operation.
With this technology Westfalia is able to deliver consistently high quality, enhancing its brand perception and increasing the export opportunities for its Hass avocados.
