Westfro expands capacity with investment in Bühler

The Bühler Group has installed additional Sortex optical sorting equipment at Westfro, the family-run Belgian producer of frozen vegetables, herbs and fruit.

Westfro has an annual production capacity of 95,000 tonnes and, for over 40 years, the company has specialised in minimising the time between harvest and processing, in order to preserve the optimum level of vitamins, minerals and fibres in its vegetable products.

“We strive for sustainable, long-term collaboration, based on product quality, flexibility and customer service. We do this through rigorous quality control and continuous investment in up-to-date technology,” says Mr Verhelle, owner of Westfro.

With a capacity to sort 24 tonnes per hour of individually quick frozen (IQF) vegetables, including peas and carrots, the processing facility allows Westfro to boost its production capacity and its output significantly. In order to secure the quality of this increased throughput, Westfro opted for two Bühler Sortex K2A optical sorters. Positioned after the IQF tunnel, the optical sorters remove foreign material, misshaped or discoloured vegetables and extraneous vegetable materials such as leaves, pods or bugs.