Blåtand AB, Sweden

World-class Swedish organic processor, Blåtand AB, supplies high quality frozen berries, jams and fruit preparations to caterers, restaurants, wholesalers and retailers in the food industry. It prides itself on its environmentally-friendly, ethical production that meets the highest of standards across the entire food chain, from forest to consumer. The company’s hand-picked bilberries and lingonberries are increasingly in demand around the world for their health-boosting properties.

Prior to sale and ultimately consumption, these delicate super berries must undergo a careful sorting and cleaning process to meet exacting customer quality and industry food safety standards. Products with colour defects, such as brown berries, need to be separated, while foreign material (FM) such as stones, sticks, leaves, pine needles and mud balls must be removed.

To achieve this, technology is required which is specifically designed to handle delicate fruits – without breakage – thus avoiding wastage, increasing yield and ultimately enabling the business to grow. 

Bühler was appointed to help Blåtand deliver the cleanest possible berries, ensure consistency in the shape, colour and flavour of its products and drive efficient processing. The company selected the PolarVision™ technology, combining two dedicated FM detection cameras – the SORTEX PolarCam™ and high definition InGaAsHD, which ensure difficult-to-detect defects and challenging FM, such as plastic, pieces of wet wood and small stones, do not contaminate the final product. 

Importantly for Blåtand, the SORTEX PolarVision™ technology is featured on the new high capacity SORTEX F optical sorter, which is hygienically-designed with zero-tolerance for product build-up, meaning there’s a much lower risk of product contamination from bacteria. It also consumes less energy, in-line with Blåtand’s environmental commitment.