Potato Sorting Technology Has International Appeal

Potato Sorting Technology Has International Appeal

Potato Sorting Technology Has International Appeal

I’m Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

When it comes to making potato crisps Tayto is number one in Britain; that’s why when it came to choosing potato sorters they went with Key Technology’s Optyx digital sorters. Headquartered out of Walla Walla Key Technology designs, manufactures and markets process automations systems for food and other industries. Key Technology’s John Kadinger tells us why Tayto chose the Optyx digital sorters over others.

KADINGER: From a technology standpoint most of the sorting systems that are on the market today are fairly similar in terms of the technology they use, but I think one of the major factors that we bring to the table is our experience in that industry itself. So when it comes to a cut potato chip we are the experts; we’ve been doing it for 30 plus years. And then when you combine our experience with the technology - to the cameras and lasers - we’re very, very efficient at removing defects from the potato chip line.

That combination camera/laser sorter technology is far better at identifying and removing the widest variety of defects and foreign material.

KADINGER: With the cameras we’re able to see really subtle shades of green on potato chips, and that’s something they want to remove. And then with the kettle style chips they’re a little thicker, and sometimes if you get more than one or two chips, what we call clumping, the center of those chips doesn’t get cooked properly and that can cause problems; that’s where the laser comes in terms of being able to detect that soft center. We’re detecting the structure of the chip, if you will, with the laser.

Tomorrow Kadinger will talk about how the Optyx digital sorters also provide manufacturers with production flexibility.

That’s Washington Ag Today.

I’m Lacy Gray with the Ag Information Network of the West.

Previous ReportAvian Influenza Identified In Wild Birds in Whatcom County
Next ReportState of the Art Potato Sorting Technology