Blueberry AirJet® Grader on it’s way to Western Australia

The global pandemic may very well have pulled the handbrake up on many projects across the globe but for GP Graders, it’s seen an uptick in business with the demand for smarter production solutions more important than ever before.

For Dave & Leasa Mazzardis, the decision to bring in electronic grading machines was a foregone conclusion. Highly respected in the industry and responsibly for some of the biggest advances in blueberry breeding in recent years, Dave and Leasa own and manage the highly successful ‘Yanchep Springs’ orchard in Western Australia. As a part of the OzBlu group, their blueberries are characteristically larger in size, averaging over 20mm in diameter with many as large as 30mm. They made world news recently by breaking their own Guinness World Record for the heaviest blueberry, weighing in at a whopping 16.2gms.

Dave and Leasa have focused on developing superior blueberry varieties with incredible success and so the decision to partner with GP Graders for sorting of the fruit came after extensive assessment of the options available and concluded that GP Graders were best suited to the production goals they had set.

Negotiations began in February 2020 and within just 4 months, a freshly built GP Graders Blueberry AirJet® Grader is on the boat to Perth for a short trip north to Wilbinga, WA.

The build of the grading machine was a smooth process. Our new singulator design was implemented to ensure smooth berry delivery to the cup and we further improved the gentle handling of fruit using a brand new silicon moulded dampener on the AirJet® exits.

With some supply shortages presenting delays, a new camera body was introduced to ensure we can maintain delivery deadlines. We also took this opportunity to do a little extra testing and have now gathered more data for future development of our Machine Learning technology. More on that soon.

Travel restrictions between Victoria and Western Australia meant it was more important than ever, to create a plug-and-play solution. Once it arrives, the new grader will be up and running within a couple of hours. The software system has been pre-configured, the belts pre-tensioned, the cabling pre-installed and as such, once on the factory floor, it really is a plug and play scenario. Furthermore, with remote access, any minor adjustments can be made by our tech team.

This machine marks the beginning of a more accessible product category for blueberry growers due to it’s size and ease of use. Blueberry processors of almost any size can now enjoy the benefits of electronic grading with an affordable product that’s been to designed to pay for itself in a matter of years. It’s an incredibly smart investment.