BENIHORT incorporates AI in new machinery with a view to the 2024-25 campaign.

Improving the quality of its fruit and increasing production volume are the two objectives that the Benihort Citrus area has set for this 2024-25 campaign. The new season comes with a strong investment in machinery that will be unveiled at the next edition of Fruit Attraction: the renovation of its packaging line, to which it has allocated 3 million euros. Two calibrators will carry out an automatic fruit selection process with Artificial Intelligence.

The first grade cooperative of Benicarló is a partner of Anecoop and during the summer has carried out an important industrial action in its citrus facilities. The head of Citrus, Luís Montañés explained that “the main novelty consists of the installation of two twin 8-guide calibrators with a quality module, which also incorporates artificial intelligence to select the fruit. This new selection and sizing process is focused on the final packaging processes to obtain homogeneity in the product and the security that our shipments arrive with all the quality that our customers require”. This advanced calibration system allows sorting parameters to be configured to detect possible defects: surface imperfections, marks, abrasions, insect damage and deformed products, and even detects internal defects such as BRIX and dry matter, among others. From this season onwards, all this information will help to improve the quality of the products marketed by Benihort.

But along with progress in quality, increasing production volumes is another of the challenges set by the cooperative presided over by Sergio Ortiz Bueno. “We are working to consolidate existing varieties and increase volumes. This is a fact that we already registered in the second part of last season, thanks to the new plantations of valencias and the reconversion of farms that are more than 20 years old. In this way, we are also improving the quality of the fruit from these plots”, as Montañés explains.

Synonymous with tradition and quality

With a social mass of almost 2,000 Benihort members, the Benicarló cooperative has been striving since 1946 to ensure that the products of its fruit and vegetable area have the freshness and traditional flavor.  “We focus our growth by promoting a productive and sustainable agriculture, we exceed 60,000 tons of citrus and vegetables annually and we are able to work with multiple products such as Benicarló Artichoke with Protected Designation of Origin, watermelon, and different varieties of tomatoes, cabbage and lettuce, among others,” as detailed by the general manager, Guillermo Edo. Thanks to the excellent work of the Engineering and Quality department and the good practices implemented by its partners, they guarantee the maximum quality of their products at any stage of the production stage. Thus, they have the international certificates GLOBALGAP, IFS, BRC and GRASP.

Its transport network supplies the main national and international markets. To this we must add the great service that develops its supplies and drip area or the work that is developed in other complementary areas of the cooperative of Benicarló as the seedbed, gas station with last generation laundry, supermarket and online store.

Benihort will participate in Fruit Attraction at stand 3D14.

www.benihort.com