At this year’s Fruit Logistica 2023 trade show, KRONEN unveiled its latest highlight: the KUJ HC-220 cube, strip & slice cutting machine. This new solution was presented to the global industry for the first time at the event in Berlin. It can process fruit, vegetables and other foods with a high capacity of up to 8,000 kg per hour. Shortly before the trade show, KRONEN also launched its brand-new website at www.kronen.eu, which makes it quicker and easier for customers and interested visitors to experience the comprehensive range of solutions available from the company.

At this year’s Fruit Logistica, the strong international orientation of the event was again clearly present: Visitors from over 50 countries came to explore the KRONEN stand, which was located in the new Hall 1.1 for the first time. KRONEN also took a global approach to offer its customers and interested visitors the best possible support and advice, provided by representatives from 20 countries, who ran the stand together with the German team from Kehl am Rhein.

“The decision to present live demonstrations of actual product processing with our machines and solutions was definitely worthwhile. The live demonstrations attracted huge interest, which is the advantage of in-person events, together with the extremely important aspect of enabling us to establish personal contact with the industry,” declares Stephan Zillgith, Managing Partner of KRONEN. “Nevertheless, online channels have played an important role in helping us present our solutions for a long time, and the pandemic only served to strengthen this role. This is why we have invested in a brand-new website that provides even more information combined with a clearer layout and a fresh, new KRONEN design to transport the core elements of our brand, products and services.”

Cut large quantities of up to 8,000 kg per hour into (fine) cubes, strips and slices with precise cuts

The newly developed KUJ HC-220 cube, strip & slice cutting machine is ideal for the industrial processing of fruit, vegetables and other foods. It cuts large quantities with a consistent, precise cutting quality and offers a capacity of up to 8,000 kg per hour, for example when producing 10 mm potato cubes, or up to 4,000 kg per hour, for example for 5 mm potato slices.

The cutting machine, which was presented to the industry for the first time at Fruit Logistica, has been adapted for processing larger products with a diameter of 90 to 220 mm, for example celeriac, cabbage, bell peppers or turnips, thus reducing the amount of pre-cutting required for many products. The KUJ HC-220 is the big sister of the well-established KUJ-V cutting machine, which can process up to 2,500 kg per hour and products with a diameter of up to 85 mm.
The large selection of cutting inserts available facilitates the production of extremely thin slices and strips as well as fine cubes (brunoise), while also guaranteeing an optimal cutting quality for large cutting sizes at the same time.

The cutting machine can be optionally equipped with a belt infeed and belt outfeed for continuous processing. Due to its compact design, it has a low space requirement and can be flexibly integrated into the production environment and processing lines.

Advantages:

• With its high capacity , the KUJ HC-220 is ideal for use in industrial food processing. It can process large quantities into cubes, strips or slices in a single operation and with low personnel requirements.
• The machine has been adapted for processing large products with a diameter of 90 to 220 mm. Its large funnel allows ergonomic filling using boxes up to 600 mm wide.
• The cutting inserts can be changed quickly and easily using just a few tools, which are available as an optional addition. As a result, the machine can be rapidly converted when the product is changed.
• The easily accessible design of the machine guarantees easy maintenance as well as quick, thorough cleaning and therefore optimal hygiene. Special emphasis was placed on safety during the product infeed and outfeed.

A brand-new website with a fresh, updated design

The new website, which can be found at www.kronen.eu, represents a comprehensive investment by KRONEN GmbH. The previous version of the website already provided plenty of informative content and proved its worth over many years. Nonetheless, after many years of service, plans had been in place to replace the website with a new version for a long time. On January 23, shortly before the Fruit Logistica trade show, KRONEN launched its brand-new website. Although its stand at the event primarily focused on the solutions being presented on site, KRONEN also, of course, made the most of the opportunity to attract attention to its new online presence.

The new website is designed to be even more informative and to provide a clear insight into KRONEN’s machines and solutions with a multitude of images and videos. Thanks to new features and improved navigation, the site is now even quicker and easier to use. What’s more, it has also been perfected for mobile devices, allowing visitors to access and explore the KRONEN website with an optimized design when out and about.

The new website offers an abundance of new content, including information on the company and the individual industries supplied with KRONEN solutions. It also shines the spotlight on areas of expertise and services that were not sufficiently presented on the previous website, for example the topics of processing lines, customized solutions, networking and research.

The design of the new website is fresh, clear and modern and therefore perfectly reflects the new corporate design, which has already been in use since 2022. The overall aim of the new website is to optimally transport the products, services and core of the KRONEN brand to provide customers and interested visitors with an authentic and precise insight into the company and its solutions.

Innovations for salad, fruit and vegetable processing

In addition to the two premieres showcased at its stand, KRONEN also presented further new developments and product upgrades:

• The HEWA 3800 HELICAL washing machine is a further development of the GEWA 3800 PLUS. It is used for the continuous pre-washing, washing, disinfection, mixing, treatment and rinsing of lettuce, fruit and vegetables. The machine can process up to 2,500 kg per hour and has been optimized in terms of hygiene and a reduced cleaning time. It can be completely dismantled for rapid and thorough cleaning. The washing machine has no horizontal surfaces whatsoever, thus allowing the water to optimally discharge. What’s more, all edges are designed to avoid the formation of biofilm. The vibration motors, all pipes, the pump casing, the wash and pump tanks, and the covers and switch cabinet are made from AISI 304 stainless steel.
• A fully automated system for weighing, sorting, washing and drying: In 2022, KRONEN GmbH supplied a total of four complete processing lines. The fourth system was demonstrated ‘virtually’ at this year’s Fruit Logistica trade show. The fully automatic, networked processing line for salad leaves and leafy vegetables processes up to 2,000 kg per hour and integrates innovative washing and drying technology from KRONEN with a dynamic weighing system from iWEIGH and mechanical and optical sorting solutions from HiTec Food Systems. All of the components in the processing line are networked. This ensures constant, low-interruption processing, low personnel requirements, maximum quality and a cost-efficient process. When it comes to hygiene, the innovative system sets new standards.
• MPC 100 manual pineapple chunk cutter: The tabletop device is a further development of the MASS manual pineapple slicer. This new tabletop model uses a dividing insert for six to eight pieces to cut fresh pineapple into even, bite-sized chunks that are, for example, ideal for use in fruit salads or as pineapple snacks packed in portions. The MPC 100 processes pineapples with a diameter of 85 to 100 mm and a length of up to 200 mm. The manual operation of the robust device is extremely easy. For this, the pineapple must first be topped and tailed, peeled and cored.