Fruit and vegetable packing
The steps are similar across crops – receive, sort, grade, wash, pack, store, ship – but each crop adds its own rules on tare, curing, grading and pack formats.
Key points
- Deduct tare at receival so growers are paid on net weight.
- Grade results per lot drive packout, pricing and grower statements.
- Pack from bins, trailers or bulk stores – but always against a lot.
- Crop-specific QC templates keep inspections consistent.
The common process
- Receive – weigh, deduct tare, record grower, field and variety, label each bin.
- Store or cure – cool rooms, bulk stores or curing rooms by lot.
- Sort and grade – remove defects, size and grade, record the result per lot.
- Wash – potable water, sanitiser checks, drying.
- Pack – to customer spec, with labels printed for the right customer and product.
- Store and ship – FIFO picking, scan-verified loading, invoice.
Potatoes
Pack from bins, direct from trailers or from bulk storage rooms and silos. Deduct tare on delivery, wash, sort and grade, then pack bags or totes to order. See potato packing software.
Carrots
Washing, polishing and grading by length and diameter generate significant waste; recording it per lot shows where yield is lost. See carrot packing software.
Onions
Curing and long-term storage dominate onion economics. Track loss and condition by bay and release stock by age or condition. See onion packing software.
Sweet potatoes and apples
Both depend on storage: sweet potatoes after curing, apples in regular and controlled-atmosphere rooms for months. Shrink per room is the key number. See sweet potato and apple packing.
Salads and mixed products
Recipes drive raw-material demand, and every mixed batch records its input lots. See salad packing software.
Frequently asked questions
What is tare and why deduct it?
Tare is the weight of the bin, crate or trailer. Deducting it at receival records net produce weight so grower payments and yields are correct.
Can one system handle multiple crops?
Yes. Crops differ in grades, pack formats and QC templates, which are configured per product in Producepak.
