On-site Planning
Installation & Commissioning
Automated & Energy Efficient
Client Name: K****N Khorasan Agro-Industry Group
Country: Islamic Republic of Iran
Region: South Khorasan Province – a core global region for high?quality jujubes, known for "Persian dates"
Core Products: Pitted jujube slices (ready?to?eat snacks), jujube powder raw material, diced jujube for baking, functional food ingredients
Equipment Configuration: Hadof custom jujube slicing line (including automatic pitting, precision thickness slicing, anti?stick treatment, and intelligent sorting module)
Commissioning Date: Q2 2022
Iran is an important producer of jujubes, and the dates and fresh jujubes from South Khorasan are of exceptional quality, but for a long time they were mainly exported as whole fruit or in simple packaging. K****N Group, one of the largest agricultural processing enterprises in the region, decided to invest in a modern jujube slicing line to meet the growing international demand for deep?processed products. However, jujube slicing posed significant technical challenges due to high sugar content, soft sticky flesh, presence of pits, and irregular shapes.
Traditional manual pitting and slicing faced several difficulties:
Low efficiency and hygiene risks: Each worker could process less than 50 kg per day, and multiple handling steps introduced contamination risks, making it difficult to meet international food safety certifications.
Inconsistent slice thickness: Manual slicing resulted in thickness variations of 3?5mm, leading to uneven moisture evaporation during subsequent drying or baking, causing inconsistent color and texture in the final product.
Severe sticking to blades: The high sugar content of jujube flesh caused ordinary blades to stick, resulting in incomplete slices and requiring frequent cleaning stoppages, which reduced productivity.
High raw material waste: Manual operations caused broken fruit and trimmings exceeding 10%, meaning high?quality raw materials were not fully utilized.
Hadof's technical team tailored a fully automatic pitting and slicing line for K****N Group based on the characteristics of jujubes:
1. Intelligent Pitting and Centering Feeding System
A combination of vision recognition and mechanical positioning automatically identifies the orientation of each jujube and precisely removes the pit, achieving a pit removal rate of 99.8% without damaging the fruit flesh. The pitted jujube automatically moves to the slicing station, ensuring seamless operation.
2. High?Precision Anti?Stick Slicing Unit
Blades are made of special stainless steel with a super?hydrophobic coating, combined with high?frequency micro?vibration to assist material discharge, effectively preventing sugar?related sticking. Slice thickness is adjustable from 2mm to 10mm, with deviation controlled within ±0.3mm. The entire machine is made of food?grade materials, complying with EU EC 1935/2004 standards.
3. Online Temperature Control and Hygienic Design
A temperature control system in the slicing area maintains the environment at 18?22°C to prevent excessive softening of the fruit flesh. All contact surfaces are designed with rounded corners, eliminating dead spaces, and CIP online cleaning is supported to meet BRC certification requirements.
4. Intelligent Sorting and Grading
After slicing, the material passes through a high?speed vision sorter that automatically rejects irregular slices, stuck pieces, and remaining pit fragments. Qualified slices are automatically graded by thickness and size, then sent to freeze?drying, hot?air drying, or packaging. Sorting accuracy exceeds 99.5%.
Client Testimonial: From Raw Material Exporter to Value?Added Brand Producer
Since the new line began operation in 2022, K****N Group has achieved a significant transformation:
Capacity & Efficiency
Daily processing capacity: Increased from less than 3 tons with manual slicing to 25 tons per shift, reaching up to 40 tons per day, making it one of the largest jujube deep?processing enterprises in the Middle East.
Labor optimization: The pitting and slicing workforce was reduced from 150 temporary workers to 12 skilled technicians, cutting labor costs by 85% and solving labor shortages.
Quality & Market
Product qualification rate: Slice integrity increased from 72% to over 95%, thickness consistency reached 98%, and crumb rate was controlled within 3%.
Market expansion: Achieved IFS international food standard certification, successfully entering organic food supply chains in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UAE. Revenue from deep?processed products grew from 0 to 40% of the group's total.
Overall Benefits
Raw material utilization: Precision pitting and intelligent sorting increased overall utilization from 85% to 96%, saving approximately $350,000 annually in raw material costs.
Energy optimization: The line uses high?efficiency variable?frequency motors and intelligent standby modes, reducing energy consumption per unit output by 22% compared to traditional separate equipment, earning a green manufacturing award from Iran's Ministry of Industry.
"Hadof's slicing line has truly enabled us to achieve 'every slice uniform, every piece precise' with our jujubes. Now our jujube slice products are highly praised at food exhibitions in Dubai, with added value nearly tripled. More importantly, we now have the confidence to compete with international brands."
—— K****N Khorasan Agro-Industry Group, Technical Director Dr. Karimi
