The Duravant family of operating companies serve the food processing, packaging and material handling segments.
Twin City Foods Upgrades Sort Capabilities with VERYX™ Optical Sorters from Key Technology
Twin City Foods has been a leader in the frozen vegetable industry since their start in the 1940s. Processing hundreds of millions of pounds of product annually, their frozen peas, corn, carrots and green beans are sold around the world to foodservice customers and in private-label retail packs. This year, Twin City Foods partnered with Key Technology and installed two VERYX™ optical sorters at the end of their lines that process both frozen peas and corn. VERYX removes all types of foreign material and processor-specified product defects to help ensure high product quality while maximizing yield.
“Our customers are very discerning. While other frozen vegetable processors might be limited to offering only certain product grades, we pride ourselves on having the flexibility to accommodate any grade our customers ask for,” said Dan Munko, Vice President of Operations at Twin City Foods. “Reliably achieving more unique grades requires sophisticated sorting, so we decided it was time to update our flagship facility in Pasco, Washington with the latest technology. We wanted optical sorters that would maximize our food safety and ensure exact product quality specifications, while also increasing yield, achieving high throughputs and simplifying our operations.”
“We’ve been partnering with Key Technology since we bought our first sorter from them back in 2006, and we’ve always had a fantastic experience working with them,” said Raul Martinez, Division Manager at Twin City Foods’ Pasco facility. “We did our due diligence and looked at other sorting equipment suppliers, but it was quickly clear that Key and their VERYX optical sorter was the right choice for us.”
Twin City Foods selected two of Key’s VERYX B210 belt-fed sorters, the highest capacity model in the VERYX family, which are each capable of processing up to 40,000 lbs. of frozen vegetables per hour. Both sorters are equipped with top-mounted off-axis cameras and laser sensors as well as Key’s Pixel Fusion™ detection module to achieve Twin City Foods’ rigorous food safety and product quality objectives.
Recognizing the color, size, shape and structural property of every object, these VERYX sorters find and remove all types of foreign materials, including metal, plastic, insects, extraneous vegetative matter (EVM) and more as well as a variety of defects such as off-color products and pulled corn kernels.
“EVM is an especially big concern when processing peas and corn since stems, pods and husks can come in from the field during harvesting. We have many steps to ensure EVM is removed during processing, and our VERYX sorters are a fantastic final quality check before packaging,” explained Martinez.
“We have recipes saved in each sorter’s memory to accommodate different varieties of corn and peas, different product grades and different growing conditions, which can affect taste, texture, the EVM and more,” said Martinez. “We’re easily able to tailor our VERYX programming to remove exactly what we need to, even when there are significant changes in incoming product.”
To further maximize equipment uptime and sorting performance, Twin City Foods’ VERYX systems are equipped with RemoteMD™, which enables a two-way remote session between the sorter and a Key service technician to simplify diagnostics and speed the resolution of any issues.
“The ability to get 24/7 remote service is huge for us. If we ever have questions, the Key team can look at the sorter’s settings and make recommendations, even at 2am.”
“At the end of the day, what matters is our VERYX sorters help us provide a positive experience for the consumer every time, no matter the characteristics of the incoming batch of product,” concluded Munko. “By removing all foreign material and the right defects to ensure high-quality product, VERYX keeps our customers coming back to Twin City Foods.”
About Twin City Foods, Inc.
Since the 1940s, Twin City Foods has led the frozen vegetable industry, delivering consistent quality and service. With deep-rooted expertise, Twin City Foods grows and processes organic and conventional vegetables, ensuring peak freshness. Its stability in prime growing regions and the long-term commitment of their experienced employees give customers confidence in every product. As a family-owned company, Twin City Foods combines a rich history with an agile approach to meet evolving customer needs. Certified for food safety and sustainability, Twin City Foods stands as a partner trusted to deliver excellence to families and businesses alike, while prioritizing environmentally-friendly practices and community engagement. For more information, visit www.twincityfoods.com
About Key Technology, Inc.
Key Technology is a global leader in the design and manufacture of automation systems including optical sorters, conveyors and other processing equipment. Applying processing knowledge and application expertise, Key helps customers in the food processing and other industries improve quality, increase yield and reduce cost. Key manufactures its products in Walla Walla, Washington, USA; Redmond, Oregon, USA; and in Beusichem, the Netherlands. Key offers customer demonstration and testing services at four locations including Walla Walla and Beusichem as well as Hasselt, Belgium and Sacramento, California, USA; and maintains a sales and service office in Santiago de Queretaro, Mexico. Key is a Duravant Company. For more information, visit www.key.net.
About Duravant
Headquartered in Downers Grove, IL, Duravant is a global engineered equipment company with manufacturing, sales and service facilities throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Through their portfolio of operating companies, Duravant delivers trusted end-to-end process solutions for customers and partners through engineering and integration expertise, project management and operational excellence. With worldwide sales distribution and service networks, they provide immediate and lifetime aftermarket support to all the markets they serve in the food processing, packaging and material handling sectors. Duravant’s market-leading brands are synonymous with innovation, durability and reliability. For more information, visit www.duravant.com.
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Buffy Hagerman
Key Technology
150 Avery Street
Walla Walla, WA 99362 USA
Tel: +1 509 540 7415
bhagerman@key.net
www.key.net
Reader Inquiries:
Lene Boes
Key Technology
Bedrijfsstraat 6b
B-3500 Hasselt, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 11 26 70 38
lboes@key.net
www.key.net