Problems with soft fruit packaging

When designing new products in the Milbor PMC offer, we spent a lot of time talking to customers and listening to the difficulties they face in their daily tasks. In this text, we have gathered the limitations that packaging and soft fruit growing companies, especially those dealing with strawberries and raspberries, often encounter.

Lack of workforce for packing soft fruits

The first group of challenges consists of difficulties related to human capital in a broad sense. In recent years, many companies in the vegetable and fruit sector have been complaining about staff shortages. People are unwilling to perform monotonous work in difficult conditions, and the rising cost of living in Europe means that the increasing minimum wage (from January 1, 2025, in Germany, the rate will be 12.82 EUR gross/hour) does not compensate them for the hardships of migration and employment on plantations. As a result, there are fewer and fewer workers, even from outside Europe. Another observation is that if newcomers from distant countries are willing to work, their commitment and diligence do not always meet our European standards. Additional difficulties include language barriers and cultural differences.

An alternative to workforce shortages is automation. However, the use of machines in the soft fruit segment is significantly limited due to the delicacy of the products. A solution is soft fruit packing lines, which do not replace workers but allow them to work more efficiently, significantly speeding up the process.

Low work efficiency

Even filling the full schedule with employees does not necessarily mean that the packing station will operate efficiently and at full capacity. Many of our interviewees complain about the low level of engagement among packers. Slow-moving individuals often demotivate their colleagues on the line, resulting in decreased production statistics. In extreme cases, we may encounter collusion among employees, who deliberately slack off and encourage others to do the same.

It is also true that even the most motivated and ambitious individuals work slower and less accurately over time. After several hours of monotonous packing and working in low temperatures, fatigue and distraction set in, reducing employee efficiency.

The answer to this challenge is systematic monitoring of individual employees’ work and collecting data on their productivity. Another aspect is providing people with ergonomic working conditions that allow them to optimally utilise their energy. If you expect someone to catch fish for you, you must equip them with a fishing rod. A good example is multi-level conveyors or scales equipped with light signaling, which improve communication with the operator.

Process planning and performance monitoring

The topic of employee monitoring and planning is closely related to the two issues mentioned above. Some employers fear that any form of control will completely discourage people from working for them. Some try to monitor performance manually – using paper sheets or spreadsheets. This method is better than no monitoring at all, but it is time-consuming and leaves room for abuse – subjective evaluations made by the shift leader.

Work in a packing facility, like in any other workplace, should be monitored. We wrote more about this in this article. However, for monitoring to be effective and motivating for the employee, it must be based on reliable data collected in an automatic and objective manner. Performance reporting can

Packing soft fruits: losses caused by overweighing

Another challenge for soft fruit producers is the issue of overweighing, which is well known throughout the sector. In the case of soft fruits, it is particularly significant because raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries are expensive, and overweighing each package by just 1 or 2 fruits can cumulatively generate substantial losses, amounting to tens of thousands of EUR per season.

How can you deal with soft fruit overweighing while maintaining a high packing speed? The solution comes with dynamic packing lines and manual packing lines, which facilitate ergonomic, precise, and efficient work for packing personnel. A line integrated with production management software allows the generation of weighing accuracy reports, making it possible to consistently track packing statistics and diagnose at which stage most overweighing issues occur.

Short order fulfillment time

Packaging companies complain that their clients sometimes place orders at the last minute, from one day to the next. Refusing such orders could result in losing future contracts with a given retail network. The goal is therefore to shorten the process duration without compromising fruit quality or increasing overweight packages. How can this be achieved?

Once again, a comprehensive and tailor-made soft fruit packing line comes to the rescue. Automatic line reconfiguration, integration of mechanical and multi-level conveyors that eliminate the need for workers to move around or bend unnecessarily to pick up packaging, simplified communication between the scale and the operator, focusing on a single task per worker, and redirecting correctly weighed packages directly to further packaging processes – these are just a few examples of how dynamic and manual packing lines improve order fulfillment efficiency.

Do you want to discuss our ideas for soft fruit packaging?

Milbor PMC combines expert knowledge of fruit and vegetable packaging optimization with years of experience in blueberry cultivation. Operating in the market since 2013, we offer our clients complete and tailor-made soft fruit packaging systems. If you want to learn about our ideas for improving the efficiency of your packing facility, fill out the form below. Our consultant will contact you soon to discuss your needs and experiences. The consultation is free and non-binding.