Potatoes

Mydibel Modernizes Potato Grading Operation in Mouscron

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The Mouscron, Belgium-headquartered Mydibel Group, a manufacturer of value-added frozen, chilled and dehydrated potato products, is investing EUR 5.2 million in the installation of a fully automated potato sorting and grading system.

mydibel-potato-bridgeA piece of land across the street from its main production site will be devoted to a new building which will replace the current potato reception station, washing lines and sorting area at the company’s three production facilities. The consolidated operation will make the complex potato sorting process considerably simpler and more efficient, and implementation will begin at the start of the new crop season this July.

The system at the Mouscron plant will soon be reduced to a single flowing line – from arrival of raw materials, sorting and washing of potatoes to processing in the plant. This will cut current consumption of water used for washing incoming spuds by 50%, which fits with Mydibel’s green factory philosophy.

As the new building is situated across the street from the main production site, a striking feature of the layout is a bridge which will transport potatoes by water flume – following removal of stones and other foreign objects, calibration and washing – from the grading area to the processing plant. There the spuds will be steam-peeled and further processed into a variety of finished products including Belgian fries, croquettes and hash browns.

Mydibel, a family-owned and operated company since its inception 25 years ago, typically processes about 2,000 tons of potatoes per day. Most of the output goes to the private label sector in export markets around the world.