In Canada, everyone knows that if you’re going to sell potatoes, you have to go to the International Potato Technology Expo.
The expo is held every two years in Charlottetown, says Mark Cusack, the event’s national show manager.
This year, the two-day show that began on Friday (23 February) is being held at the Eastlink Centre. Cusack estimates the event will have about 5,000 visitors and 130 exhibitors over the two days.
One exhibitor that drew a lot of interest from the crowd was the Danish company Newtec with their Optical Sorting Machine, Celox-P-UHD.
The machine uses high-resolution cameras to analyse, grade and sort washed potatoes for size, shape, and quality (such as surface scabs). Potatoes can be sorted into 13 categories.
“We can really see the small details in the potatoes,” said Thomas Heinicke, the company’s head of sales, explaining the cameras photograph the potatoes multiple times and allow the user to evaluate the potato’s surface ‘pixel by pixel’.
The user can operate the machine and change settings from a computerised display screen or on an external computer or smartphone. The company has sales all over the world and is in Canada represented by Equipment Capital.
“It is, really, a machine where you put in all your potatoes, no matter what shape they’re in, and then you can decide how to split them and utilise every single potato,” Mr Heinicke said.
“It won’t brew your coffee for you in the morning, but otherwise, it will do quite a bit for you.”
To find more about the Newtec Optical Sorting Machine, Model Celox-P-UHD, send an enquiry through the form on this page.