Fox Solutions’ Pouch Bagger Wins Innovation Award

United Fresh – an association which brings together companies across every segment of the fresh produce supply chain, including growers, processors, distributors and more - has announced the winners of its Produce Innovation Awards. This year’s honorees were voted by the show attendees from a total of 48 contestants across seven categories.

“This year’s Innovation Awards winners won from a field of excellent and qualified competitors. This exceptional creativity of these seven winners helped them stand out at United Fresh 2019 the home of fresh produce innovation,” said John Toner, vice president of Convention & Industry Collaboration,.

In the Best New Packaging/Processing Equipment category, Fox Solutions' Pouch Bagger scored the distinction. The machine is suitable for bagging potatoes and sweet potatoes, as well as a range of other products including onions, avocados or apples.

According to Fox, the Pouch Bagger is custom built specifically for fresh produce packinghouses with product handling, pack line efficiencies and food safety as top priorities. Moreover, the Pouch Bagger is said to improve bagger automation and reduces the amount of downtime to change the line over. The machine features speeds of up to 18-22 bags a minute.

Fox says the Pouch Bagger pairs perfectly with their Stand Up Combo Bag (pictured above), which is constructed of high-density polyethylene. The material is comparable to polypropylene in stiffness, offering the same rigid feel, while reducing waste, energy use and overall global warming potential, compared to the alternatives.

Other winners included Del Monte Fresh Produce’s Film-sealed Fruit Cups, which took home the Best New Packaging award, and Taylor Farms’ Avocado Ranch Chopped Salad Kit, which was awarded the Best New Vegetable Product award.