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King Fresh touting new electronic sorter

It is a big investment for a crop that has only a seven-week season, but the electronic sorter that King Fresh Produce LLC installed this season on its cherry packingline is worth its seven-figure price tag, according to Keith Wilson, president of the company.

KingFreshKing Fresh offers a bulk box as well as other packs.The Dinuba, CA, firm is expected to begin using the equipment when the first cherries come out of the orchard in late April. By mid-June the season will be over. There are some fairly unique characteristics to cherries so the new electronic sorter is not adaptable to other fruit that King Fresh packs and so the equipment will be idled sometime in June until next season rolls around more than 10 months later. “Cherries are a high dollar, high cash value crop,” said Wilson, so they can support this type of investment.

He said the state-of-the-art packing equipment includes a photo-optic element that scans the fruit for size, defects and color. The result is a more uniform pack. “It’s much more accurate,” said Wilson. “The export market seems to like it better” than a pack produced through hand sorting. And export buyers pay a premium which makes the investment a winner despite the limited amount of time available to recoup that investment.

However, Wilson said King Fresh continues to concentrate on its domestic customers, which form the core of its business. He said domestic retailers, foodservice and wholesale accounts are all gearing up for the start of the season. With its southern San Joaquin Valley location, King Fresh grows several different varieties including Brooks, Coral and Tulare. The always popular Bing cherry is grown in greater abundance in the more northern districts in California.

The firm offers most of the standard packs including one-, two- and four-pound clamshells, standup pouches, a zipper bag, a bulk box and a five-kilo carton for the export market.

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