Netherlands-based Nature’s Pride says it has installed the first operational avocado packing robot in the world.

This innovation, called the Speedpacker, packs avocados ergonomically and efficiently without making concessions to quality, according to the major European avocado supplier.

The Speedpacker has three feed streams and is capable of processing 240 avocados per minute. The camera technology detects the avocados for the grippers. In this way, the grippers know exactly how to pick up the avocados and place them in the boxes.

Nature’s Pride entered a partnership with the machinery maker Selo to develop the Speedpacker.

“Like us, Selo is a true pioneer and is very technically oriented. They also strive for top quality combined with cost-efficiency," says Mo Ayachi, Operations Manager at Nature’s Pride.

"We found the ideal partner in Selo. For us, ‘together’ means working together, moving forward together, and also developing together."

The process took about two years and involved extensive testing. The avocado packing robot is now operational in the packing room in Maasdijk.

“The Speedpacker is the result of a unique collaboration between Selo and Nature’s Pride, where Nature’s Pride contributed all its knowledge of avocados and Selo its knowledge of robotics and grippers. We have succeeded in automatically packing avocados which were previously packed manually,” says Willibrord Woertman, CEO of Selo.