▌ Solution Overview
Meatech's potato, onion, and garlic processing solution mechanises the full primary processing sequence from field-intake washing through grading and retail-ready packing. The solution is configured to the specific crop — surface characteristics, size distribution, damage sensitivity, and target market grade standards differ significantly between potato, white onion, and garlic — with equipment selection and line layout designed accordingly. As part of Meatech's expanding vegetable processing capability, this solution applies the same engineering discipline — SUS304 food-contact surfaces, HACCP-compliant design, single-source line integration — that underpins our meat processing lines.
▌ Process Flow — Stage by Stage
Stage 1 — Receiving & Destoning
Incoming crop passes over a destoning conveyor that separates stones, clods, and heavy debris by density — protecting downstream washing and grading equipment from damage and reducing maintenance costs. Crop is then conveyed to the washing stage at a controlled feed rate to prevent overloading.
Stage 2 — Washing & Surface Preparation
A brush or drum washer removes surface soil, debris, and field residue. Water volume, brush pressure, and drum rotation speed are adjustable to match the surface sensitivity of each crop — potato requires more aggressive cleaning than white onion; garlic requires gentle handling to preserve the intact skin presentation required by retail buyers. Air-knife drying removes surface moisture before grading, ensuring optical sensors are not confused by water droplets and that packs do not seal in excess moisture that accelerates mould growth.
Stage 3 — Grading: Weight or Optical Sizing
Weight-based graders sort product into defined size categories with greater accuracy and consistency than hand-grading — and at 5–10x the throughput per operator equivalent. Optical grading systems add size imaging and defect detection (surface blemishes, green patches on potato, split skins on garlic), enabling multiple quality grades to be separated in a single pass. Grade boundary consistency directly determines the premium-grade recovery rate.
Stage 4 — Packing: Net Bag, Mesh Bag, or Tray
Graded product feeds into automatic net, mesh, or tray packing machines. Automatic weighing at the packing stage controls fill weight to within ±50 g of declared weight — reducing giveaway from the 3–6% typical of manual filling to below 0.5%. Checkweigher confirmation and labelling complete the line.
▌ Solution Highlights
› Mechanised grading replaces manual sorting — 5–10x throughput per operator, consistent grade boundaries
› Adjustable washing parameters — configured for potato, onion, or garlic surface sensitivity
› Air-knife drying — moisture removal before grading and packing prevents mould and optical sensing errors
› Automatic weighing reduces packing giveaway from 3–6% (manual) to < 0.5%
› HACCP-compliant SUS304 food-contact surfaces — same hygiene standard as our meat processing lines
▌ ROI & Commercial Value
Grading labour saving | Mechanised grading replaces 6–12 manual sorting operators at equivalent or greater throughput |
Premium grade recovery | Consistent grade boundaries improve the percentage of crop reaching highest retail price tier |
Packing giveaway reduction | < 0.5% giveaway vs 3–6% manual filling — significant saving at commodity scale |
Shelf life improvement | Air-knife drying and sealed packing reduce post-pack mould incidence |
Payback period | Typically 10–18 months at medium-to-large fresh vegetable packing volume |
▌ Equipment in This Solution
› Receiving conveyor and destoning system
› Drum or brush washing machine — adjustable for potato/onion/garlic surface sensitivity
› Air-knife drying conveyor — moisture removal before grading
› Weight or optical grading machine — consistent grade boundaries, defect detection
› Automatic net, mesh, or tray packing machine — ±50 g fill weight accuracy
› Checkweigher and labelling system
