{"id":583,"date":"2024-07-03T09:58:32","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T13:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.packagingindustrynews.com\/?p=583"},"modified":"2024-07-03T09:58:32","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T13:58:32","slug":"gaia-investment-installs-new-automated-cherry-sorting-and-packing-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.packagingindustrynews.com\/?p=583","title":{"rendered":"GAIA Investment installs new automated cherry sorting and packing line"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The move aims to allow Moldovan producers to expand their services internationally. Credit: Paula Cobleigh via Shutterstock. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

GAIA Investment has launched a new automated cherry sorting and packing line at its regional hub in Bucov\u0103\u021b, Straseni district, Moldova.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The development marks the first large-scale, modern line in the country, designed to assist Moldovan cherry producers in scaling their operations internationally, according to the Moldova Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The line, available to more than ten producers, features advanced automation for sorting cherries by size, colour, and calibre while also detecting and eliminating fruit with internal defects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The advanced line is complemented by a hydrocooler, which cools the harvested fruit to maintain a higher quality level and thereby extend shelf life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

GAIA Investment has invested more than $1m in the line, of which $55,000 is from the US Agency for International Development via the Rural Competitiveness and Resilience project. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past five years, the area of cherry orchards in Moldova has expanded from 3,600 to 4,300 hectares.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year, the country\u2019s producers exported more than 16,000 tons of cherries, valued at over $22m, reaching new EU markets, including Spain, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MOLDPRES<\/em> quoted Maldova\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Vladimir Bolea as saying: \u201cWe are already registering successes in diversifying export markets for fruit. It is important to make further progress, but this requires everyone\u2019s involvement and investment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cChanges have been included in the new subsidy measures to make the subsidies more attractive and to encourage fruit growers to use high-performance varieties and innovative technologies, to form associations and to adjust production to EU standards.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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