Shippers and processors look for automation to save labor

When it is so hard to find workers, the quest to pack and process produce with less labor is perhaps the biggest incentive to invest in automation technology, industry leaders polled by The Packer agree.

In fact, firms are investing significant sums of money to speed the automation process. 

For Don Roper, vice president of sales and marketing for Honeybear Brands, Elgin, Minn., progress in packinghouse automation has been substantial in the last 20 years. 

Equipment today is capable of analyzing, processing, sorting and moving fruit in a very thorough and gentle manner throughout processing, he said. 

“Sizing and sorting technology has evolved significantly with optics,” said Briana Shales, marketing director for Stemilt Growers, Wenatchee, Wash., echoing Roper’s point. “Many packs can now be packaged automatically at good speed with machines.”

Looking ahead, Shales said there is a growing demand for consumer packs. Finding labor efficiency for those smaller packs on the packing line is essential, she said.

“As produce in consumer packs continues to grow, I think we are curious about how those will done in an efficient manner,” Shales said. “Packing lines are efficient today and any new package type will need to be efficient to be sustainable.”

Improvements in infrared technology have allowed packers to have the ability to sort out internal defects that previously wouldn’t have been detected with the human eye, said Chuck Sinks, president of sales and marketing for Yakima, Wash.-based Sage Fruit Company.

Packing line technology and storage technology have both greatly improved in the last 20 years, Sinks said.

“The automation and use of infrared technology has increased significantly, which allows for us to sort out both internal and external defects,” Sinks said. “This technology also allows for more consistent sizing and color for various grades and pack styles.”

Storage capabilities have also greatly improved, Sinks said. “We are now able to store most varieties for up to 12 months, which prevents a gap between crop years,” he said.

Technology that automates the task of packing tray-filled cartons is needed in coming years, Sinks said.

“Automated tray filler technology would not only help to ensure consistent quality but would also aid in meeting unmet labor/staffing needs,” Sinks said.

For Florida citrus growers, the H2-A program has helped provide enough labor for harvesting but finding labor in the packinghouse is the most pressing concern.

Packinghouse work, which isn’t eligible for the H-2A program, must draw from a labor pool that also is being pursued for jobs in construction, lawn care and numerous other fields.

Doug Feek, president of DLF International and DLF Packing, in Fort Pierce, Fla., said the company has invested in automation at the packinghouse level.

“We put a little bit more automation in every year,” he said. From coloring rooms to bagging to grading, the company has made continual investments in automation during the past eight years, he said.

“Now, we are trying to stay ahead of the curve,” he said.

Feek said the pool of packinghouse workers is shrinking. ‘If you pay a competitive wage, you can find forklift drivers, you can find graders; you can find everybody but packers,” he said. “There are no people coming up and saying, ‘I want to grow up to be a fruit packer.'"

At one time, the company employed about 40 packers, but now the company has perhaps 14 or 15.

“Every year, we have been giving incentives to get new people to come in, they come in and they work a month or maybe two months, and never really make it,” he said, with some quitting and others let go.

“That's why we've continued to automate things,” he said, noting that the company has automated nearly all of its bagging and is on the road to automating carton packing.

Florida citrus packers are following the steps their counterparts in California have taken, he said. 

“They started (automated carton packing) a number of years ago,” he said. “We're a bit behind in Florida but we see what they do, and it works for them and right now it's working for us.”

One way out

The only way out of agriculture’s labor crunch is through automation, says Walt Duflock, vice president of innovation for Western Growers, Irvine, Calif.

Processing and packing lines can leverage technology over a tremendous amount of produce, Duflock said, and that fact attracts investment dollars.

For example, only a couple of generations ago, bagged salads were not an option for shoppers. Now, fresh-cut processors with massive operations bag nearly half the lettuce output in the Salinas Valley, he said.

Processors and packinghouses in every state are looking at how to become more efficient.

A Washington fresh apple packer recently visited by Duflock can handle as many as 4 million apples per day, aided by highly advanced sorting and imaging technology.

“You realize why they can, and do, spend so much money in the packinghouse, because 4 million apples come from an awful lot of acreage,” he said. It is easier to invest in automation in the packinghouse that will touch all of a grower’s apples than to try to introduce field-level automation that is limited to one orchard at a time, he said. 

Packinghouses and processing facilities may continue to lead in technology investment in specialty crops, Duflock said.

“Anything you do at that processing center is, by definition, going to scale across a much wider range of product, and that's why you see so much innovation spending inside the building, relative to the fields, because it's just so much more effective.”

Western Growers recently sent a survey to growers about the amount of funds they invest in automation and technology. The results aren’t complete yet, but Duflock said it is clear that a good number of commercial produce growers are spending at least $200,000 per year on new technology.