PolFarm, Phase 1

Tong Engineering is further expanding its overseas customer base, with not one, but two orders for large-scale stainless steel washing and processing equipment from Polish firm Polfarm.

The company’s first order with Tong came in 2013, when Polfarm contacted their local Tong dealer HTech with a requirement to wash, grade and process its celeriac and parsley root crops. Tong  installed a custom built stainless steel washing facility, ideal for the demanding packhouse environment, comprising of two separate washing lines – one for celeriac and the other for parsley root – each line featuring a 4 metre long Vegetable Barrel Washer with close-coupled destoner, followed by a Tong Lift Roller Grader to effectively grade crop prior to packing.

Due to the success of their first instalment of equipment in 2013, Polfarm has recently returned to Tong in 2014, to place another order, for a 40 ton capacity carrot processing line, one of the biggest of its kind ever manufactured by Tong. The line includes a large Tong Storemaker hopper cleaner at the in-feed with Tong’s market leading EasyClean separators for the effective removal of soil and haulm from carrots prior to the washing process.

The carrot washing line begins with a 40 ton per hour cyclone destoner followed by one of the largest pieces of equipment in the new carrot line; a 12.5 metre long, 15000kg capacity wet hopper, offering effective soaking of crop prior to washing. Crop is then transferred to two 5 metre long stainless steel barrel washers and a large Hydrocooler which helps to increase longevity and shelf-life of the crop.

Michał Gulczyński of Polfarm commented: “We needed a bespoke line to deal with our large output of celeriac and parsley root, and after speaking with our dealer HTech, it was clear that Tong could offer the best solution for us that utilised the space available in our packhouse in the most efficient way. Since the installation of our first order for celeriac and parsley root handling in 2013 we have been very impressed with the equipment from Tong, as well as the aftersales service we have received through our local dealer HTech. The equipment has proved itself to be extremely effective and reliable, and the integration of destoners within the new equipment has meant that no stones get through the processing lines, which is a big cost and time saving.

“When the time came to upgrade our carrot line, Tong equipment was natural choice for us. Our carrot line needed to be very large-scale and handle a large throughput of carrots every hour, and we knew that Tong could offer the right equipment that would cope with our daily processing demands. Once more our requirements were met, and we’re looking forward to the line being installed in January 2015.”

Charlie Rich, export sales manager for Tong continued; “We have been manufacturing quality packhouse handling equipment for many years and our export markets for this equipment continue to grow as we introduce even more energy efficient and technically advanced grading, washing and polishing machinery.

“Tong is dedicated to providing the best equipment and best service for our customers, regardless of where they are in the world. With a network of carefully selected dealers, customers like Polfarm can rest assured that our local dealers, like HTech, are always on hand for any service or sales requirements and large-scale overseas installations like this one are also installed and serviced by our own team of expert engineers. With 85 years of engineering experience, we are able to offer packhouses across the globe with the complete processing solution that improves efficiency and control whilst saving time, reducing costs and minimising maintenance requirements”