South Tyrolean apple facility on the cutting edge of sorting, packing, storage

High up in Italy’s Vinschgau Valley is a state-of-the-art sorting, packing and storage facility for apples. The International Fruit Tree Association (IFTA) saw it in action last fall, during a tour of the South Tyrolean apple industry.

The MIVOR Fruit Cooperative, one of the largest apple companies in Europe, manages the facility. MIVOR members produced more than 80,000 tons of apples in 2013, which were sold to 49 countries, said Kathrin Theiner, a quality manager for the cooperative.

MIVOR was created in 2007, when two of South Tyrol’s grower cooperatives, MIVO and ORTLER, decided merging would save money and create a stronger presence on the market. The combined cooperative’s 400 members grow apples on about 2,700 acres, Theiner said.

Most of the apples – about 70 percent – that go through the MIVOR facility are Golden Delicious, which grow extremely well in the valley’s high elevation (roughly 700 meters above sea level). Other varieties include Red Delicious, Pinova, Gala, Jonagold and Fuji, according to MIVOR.

Once in the facility, the apples (more than 300,000 bins every fall) are cooled to about 35˚ F within a short time. Oxygen-reduced CA (controlled atmosphere) cells allow for long-term storage with almost no loss of freshness, according to LTW Intralogistics, the Austrian company that built the facility’s fully automated conveyor system, transfer cars and stacker cranes.

IFTA members observed Golden Delicious being sorted into plastic bins by Greefa sorting machinery. Built in 2011, the system includes 10 lines and 66 channels, with a sorting capacity of up to 30 tons per hour. Vinschgau’s Golden Delicious, picked in roughly an 18-day span, can store for long periods. Some are still in storage when the next harvest starts, Theiner said.

The Greefa sorting and cleaning system uses three-dimensional models to classify up to 65 apples per second – sorting by size, color and quality. The technology maps each fruit, making sure it’s healthy inside, and stores that information until the apple has most likely been consumed, according to Rick Stephens, LTW’s U.S. sales manager.

Once through the sorting process, the bins are transferred to a completely automated storage room, where robots place them on high-level storage racks – according to size and grade – so the apples can be retrieved and placed in cardboard boxes when an order is received. The system allows MIVOR to have the fruit on a truck by the end of the same day, according to IFTA.

The facility’s automated storage can house up to 5,500 tons of apples (about 18,600 bins) at a time. The facility also stores organic apples, Theiner said.

The facility has 40 full-time workers and hires up to 90 additional workers during picking season, which lasts from late August to late October or so. The facility operates Monday through Friday, Theiner said.

– Matt Milkovich