GP Graders News

The harvest experience for many cherry growers in 2020 is significantly different to any other year in the past few decades, with the pandemic creating havoc with the supply chain, availability of cherry pickers and sorting staff, and the restrictions on an international workforce being able to enter Australia.

Cherry growers throughout Victoria have been loaded with additional pressures due to coronavirus in the lead up to this year’s cherry season. With supply chain and international air freight being some of the most obvious issues faced, the upcoming season has been riddled with uncertainty from stricter travel regulations around international and state borders and the availability of picking and sorting staff.

The limits of grading speed and precision were broken by the release of AirJet Vision™ technology in 2018 – giving the industry a much-needed lift in innovative excellence. Offering unmatched levels of sorting speed and accuracy, the technology has increased profitability and improved sanitary practice for fruit producers globally across a range of produce. Two years since its release, AirJet Vision’s impact on an industry heightened by the need for improved technologies is evident.

Human contact and contamination risk are key concerns for the produce sorting industry during the global pandemic.

Australia’s management of the Coronavirus pandemic has left the country in good stead to continue onshore manufacturing operations. This means international exports have resumed to some extent in the midst of global restrictions. These sectors of the Australian economy are working hard to get back on track. GP Graders have taken these challenges in stride, having recently had a number of products certified as Australian Made. This has helped the company to solidify its status as a leader in domestic manufacturing.