AirJet® Blueberry Grader Described as a Gem

We spoke to Dave at Yanchep Springs recently about how their new AirJet® Blueberry Grader is running. Suffice to say, the entire crew is elated with the results so far.

Internationally trained, third-generation orchardist, David Mazzardis and his wife Leasa, supply blueberry seedlings and plants to most states in Australia, and many countries around the world, as well as operating their own blueberry orchard. A passion for breeding high-quality fruit has earned them a reputation for bigger, sweeter, crispier and juicer blueberries, and a Guinness World Record for the heaviest blueberry, weighing in at a whopping 16.2g, is an achievement of immeasurable value.

Yanchep Springs is a part of the global blueberry business, OZBlu, with 26 farms across 11 countries. This connection to OZBlu affords David the opportunity to see how many packing facilities are run and operated. To this effect, the comment from David, that his GP Graders machine does almost everything better than any of the other machines he’s seen, is testament to the exceptional design, engineering and technology applied by GP Grader in all their fruit grading solutions.

Grading nearly 100 different varieties of blueberries over the machine, David has been absolutely amazed by how versatile the machine has been without having to change programs each time. As a breeder of so many different varieties, this versatility alone is a game-changer, almost completely removing the need for a skilled technician to operate the machine. The role out of our new, intuative, easy-to-operate user interface has further reduced setup, training and operator necessity.

With a plethora of unique design features that make the AirJet® Blueberry Grader truly industry-leading, David and the pack-house team have been quite literally amazed by how cleanly the machine operates. Where previously, he’s seen far too much of the pack-house floor covered in stray blueberries, the first comment to come from a business associate’s mouth upon entering the space was ‘Wow, it’s so clean in here.’ Even after over 50,000 punnets have been graded and filled, the machine has had to have minimal deep cleaning done. Playing a part in this hygienic operation is our exclusive singulator design that ensures each berry is handled with the utmost care and gentleness, avoiding drops or impact.

There are a variety of reasons to implement automated systems into your business, but one of the most significant is labour cost reduction. With the quality and quantity of people available to work on farms diminishing, there’s never been a more important time to consider how pack-house operations can be improved. With no manual sorters required for anymore, and only 1 person on the final QC stage, the investment in the AirJet® Blueberry Grader is already proving worthwhile for David and Leasa.

Described as a ‘gem’ for their business, we’re extremely proud to have provided such a productive solution for the OzBlu/Yanchep Springs blueberry farm and look forward to many years of mutually prosperous relationship.

If you’re interested to learn more about the AirJet® Blueberry Grader, click here.