Robotics for a food secure UK

Packing fresh produce is a purely commercial activity and the industry is largely unknown by consumers. The sector processes £13 billion of produce annually (70% is imported) and it is an essential link in the supply chain that packages and labels safe nutritious produce for consumers. This process is labour intensive and does require dexterity to pick and place to the correct weight, without damaging produce but also the ability to identify and remove defective fruit. Labour is primarily sought from overseas, but getting sufficient numbers to populate product pack lines is becoming increasingly challenging; the most labour intensive products are "vine types", but are also the highest value.

Whilst these tasks may appear to be repetitive and are perceived as low skilled, to replace them with robotics is technologically challenging. Wootzano has however created a unique soft handling technology (Avarai) that can pick and place produce without causing any damage or negatively impacting shelf life. The system can also snip to weight and place dynamically within a punnet to avoid "over lip" height extrusions which affects the efficiency of punnet top sealing or flow wrapping. Whilst this technology is game changing, the ability of the system to detect poor product quality and remove from final pack produce is essential for commercial uptake. For example, 80% of table grape product which is transported by sea freight from South Africa, Africa, South America, USA, Europe, contains berries that are defective and require removal from the bunch. Removal of defective berries is also key to the tomato supply chain.

Robotic systems need to be trained and it is the number of product types x the number of defects for each product line that have to be learned and coded so that the systems can detect with \>99% accuracy and without giving away fruit. This requires R&D to move "quality management" to commercially ready; our target products will be table grapes and vine tomatoes. Once we have this technology in place then we have an end to end solution for the industry and an efficient final inspection autonomous product line system.

This UK based soft handling robotic system is a world first. There is a pressing need to drive this game changing technology forward not only to secure our food in the UK but to support a global food supply network which allows us to enjoy nutritious, safe, fresh produce all year round.