LATEST NEWS

New tipping mechanism

New tipping mechanism: Making sure all fully emptied

A new design of tipping mechanism that ensures boxes and bags are fully emptied is introduced by Tong Peal, leading manufacturers of machinery for vegetable handling.

New Sales appointments - October 2009

Two new sales appointments have been made by leading potato machinery manufacturers Tong Engineering — with Nick Woodcock joining the firm as UK sales manager and Simon Lee promoted to office sales manager.

Collaborating to improve potato weighing and bagging

A new option for automation of the weighing and bagging of potatoes is being provided through a joint initiative by Tong Peal and Pacepacker Services.

The two companies are working together to offer machinery that combines the Tong Peal electronic weigher with the Total Bag Control system from Pacepacker Services – an approach that is already attracting interest from UK and abroad.

July 2009.

Falling pound big boost for Lincolnshire machinery exports

Export demand for Tong Peal vegetable handling machinery is reaching record levels, with one order in three going abroad and interest for the first time in the United States. Following the company's largest export order worth more than £1 million to Stavropol in south western Russia, sales have been completed to South America, Australia and increasingly to central and eastern European countries.

June 2009.

'Rock'n'roll' appealing to European carrot packers

The ‘rock’n’roll’ carrot polisher that Tong Peal introduced to the UK two years ago is finding a growing market with European packers seeking to upgrade the quality of produce for the supermarket.
The New Generation Polisher has brushes mounted in ‘U” formation and oscillates rather than rotate completely, keeping the crop in full contact with the revolving brushes.

Machinery export success from Chile to Russia

A substantial order for vegetable handling machinery from Russia is the latest export success for Tong Peal.
Their customer Golden Niva at Stavropol in south western Russia is continuing to diversify from pig production into vegetables and looking to Tong Peal to provide machinery for cleaning, grading and packing onions, potatoes and carrots.
The machines will be operational in September and the customer is going to the expense of having the machinery delivered by road and so up to nine trucks will be leaving Lincolnshire for the two-week haul. Due to the size of the crop reception hoppers, two special trucks will be used needing appropriate dispensations as they pass through each country en route.

April 2009.

Extending brush polishing to smaller growers

A new ‘economy’ version of the vegetable brush polisher is being introduced by Tong Peal for the smaller pre packer. Last year the company introduced a new generation of brush polishers, reducing the cost of providing the bright finish to carrots, parsnips and potatoes that appeals to supermarket customers.

Taking the Drop out of Filling Boxes

We have just introduced a new model of the Easy-fill box filler using ‘finger’ belts to eliminate drop. Introduction of the finger belts — the first on a UK manufactured box filler — is a further advance in gentle handling of the crop to eliminate damage. The technique has been pioneered on the compact model, the Micro-fill, where the potatoes descend at a steeper angle into the box. Now the finger belts are being introduced to the standard Easy-fill range, eliminating the need for the hoods to hold back the
crop.

Optical sorting a 'win win' for potatoes

The hi-tech optical sorting of potatoes at the Branston packhouse near Lincoln is bringing all-round gains not only for the company and its customers but also for growers.

Branston, one of the UK’s leading potato marketing and packing companies, invested £2 million in an advanced grading system using colour and infra-red technology to identify surface defects on potatoes from scab and scurf to bruising, greening, mechanical damage and rots.

Anxious to use the latest technology to maintain a competitive advantage — but equally to handle the crop with a delicate touch — they turned to a leading manufacturer of fresh fruit sorting equipment to develop a system for potatoes.

What a Whopper!

November 2008.
The largest ever hopper manufactured by vegetable handling specialists Tong Engineering, capable of handling 70 tonnes of potatoes an hour, has been supplied to a French farmer.

The hopper has a holding capacity of 30 tonnes, which is 10 tonnes more than the largest model previously sold, and has been installed on a farm near Dieppe which grows more than 250 hectares (618 acres) of salad potatoes.

Spilsby Factory Expands as Merger Completed

With the new merged company Tong Peal officially trading from April 1 2005, the manufacturing of vegetable handling machinery is being concentrated at the Spilsby factory. More than £200,000 has been spent already in expanding the stores, design office and storage area, and with a work force of 130 the firm is busy meeting buoyant orders for its products. When the merger between Tong Engineering and Peal Engineering was announced in November, no redundancies were envisaged and with the exception of employees who have opted to retire the whole of the Peal workforce has now moved to Spilsby.