On-site Planning
Installation & Commissioning
Automated & Energy Efficient
Client Name: B****F Agri-Processing Inc.
Country: Republic of the Philippines
Region: Davao Region – the main banana growing area in the Philippines, known as the "Banana Capital"
Core Products: Banana chips (sliced), frozen banana slices, dried fruit raw material, snack slices
Equipment Configuration: Hadof custom high-speed banana slicing line (including automatic end?trimming, precision thickness slicing, anti?stick treatment, and automatic screening system)
Commissioning Date: Q1 2021
The Philippines is the world's third largest banana exporter, and bananas grown in the Davao region are known for their high quality and soft, sticky texture. B****F had long been engaged in fresh fruit exports, but the global logistics disruptions in 2020 made it realize the risk of relying too heavily on a single export model. The company decided to build a deep?processing line to enter the rapidly growing snack food markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The technical challenges in banana slicing far exceeded expectations:
Serious sticking to the blade: Banana flesh is soft and high in starch, causing traditional blades to stick frequently, resulting in incomplete slices and requiring frequent cleaning stops, severely limiting capacity.
Difficulty in thickness control: Hand?cut slices were uneven in thickness, leading to inconsistent doneness during frying and poor appearance of the final chips, failing to meet supermarket standards.
Rapid browning: Banana slices brown quickly when exposed to air. Traditional processes require rapid frying, but delays in pre?processing would affect the final color.
High breakage rate: Manual slicing produced about 15% trimmings and crumbs, wasting raw materials and squeezing profit margins.
The Hadof team went to the Davao plantations and, after several on?site tests, created a specialized banana slicing line for B****F:
1. Anti?stick Blade & Self?Cleaning Design
The blades are made of food?grade stainless steel with a Teflon anti?stick coating, combined with a high?pressure air blowing system that automatically removes adhering fruit pulp during slicing. The line can run continuously for 8 hours without manual cleaning. The disc speed and feed rate are precisely matched to ensure clean cutting without crushing, maintaining slice integrity.
2. Precision Thickness Slicing & Multi?Specification Adaptability
A high?precision servo feed system allows thickness adjustment from 1mm to 12mm, with deviation controlled within ±0.2mm, meeting the requirements for banana chips, frozen slices, and dried fruit raw materials. Blade or thickness changes are done via the touchscreen, taking only 5 minutes to switch between products.
3. Online Color Protection & Dewatering Module
At the slice exit, a micro?atomizing spray automatically applies a citric acid solution to delay browning. The slices then pass through a vibrating dewatering screen to remove excess moisture, ensuring stable quality in subsequent frying or freeze?drying. The time from slicing to the next process is kept within 30 seconds, reducing browning from 8% to less than 1%.
4. Fragment Separation & Recovery System
An intelligent vision sorter automatically rejects crumbs and irregular slices, sending qualified products directly to packaging or downstream processing. The collected crumbs are sold as raw material for pet food or farm feed, achieving comprehensive resource utilization.
Client Testimonial: From Single?Product Export to Diversified Deep Processing
Since the new line was commissioned in 2021, B****F has successfully entered the snack food market:
Capacity & Efficiency
Daily fresh fruit processing capacity: increased from less than 5 tons with manual slicing to 35 tons per shift, reaching 60 tons per day at full capacity, making the company one of the largest banana deep?processors in the southern Philippines.
Labor optimization: The slicing workforce was reduced from 80 temporary workers to 10 technicians, cutting labor costs by 75%, significantly reducing physical strain and increasing worker satisfaction.
Quality & Market
Product qualification rate: Slice integrity increased from 78% to 96%, with crumbs reduced to under 4%. The premium rate for fried chips exceeded 92%.
Market expansion: Products achieved SQF food safety certification and entered major Middle Eastern supermarkets (e.g., Lulu Hypermarket) and Southeast Asian convenience store chains. Revenue from deep?processed products rose from 0 to 35% of total revenue.
Resource Utilization
Overall raw material utilization: increased from 82% to 94%. Crumbs recovery brought additional annual income of about $250,000.
Energy saving: Variable?frequency motors and energy?efficient design reduced energy consumption per unit output by 18% compared to traditional separate equipment, earning recognition from the Philippines Department of Industry as a green manufacturing example.
"Hadof's banana slicing line freed us from relying solely on fresh fruit exports. Now our banana chips are very popular in Dubai and Singapore, and the added value has more than doubled. More importantly, we now have the confidence to weather market fluctuations."
—— B****F Agri-Processing Inc., General Manager Mr. Reyes
