The handling of vegetables begins with the reception of the produce—an essential, albeit brief, stage to ensure that the product meets the quality standards necessary for proper classification and packaging. This step may also include temperature checks and visual inspections to detect early signs of spoilage or mechanical damage, allowing for quick corrective actions.

Industrial grading of vegetables is based on sorting by size, weight, color (as in the case of products like tomatoes), and diameter. Within these processes, proper cleaning and disinfection of vegetables is crucial—not only to remove soil, pesticide residues, or contaminants, but also to reduce microbiological risks, ensuring product safety and reinforcing food hygiene. Increasingly, eco-friendly sanitizing agents and water-efficient systems are being adopted to meet environmental sustainability goals.

These working methods offer significant benefits: they guarantee uniformity, facilitate logistics, meet international market health and safety requirements, and build consumer trust. At the same time, packaging protects the product, extends its shelf life, and adds value through formats adapted to current market demands, such as sustainable or convenience packaging. Retailers and export buyers now often require barcoding, QR codes, or smart labeling to track product origin and freshness, making packaging both a practical and strategic element.

Today, technology plays a key role in these processes. Automated grading systems, artificial vision, and high-efficiency packaging machinery help reduce processing time, minimize errors, and lower production costs. Automation ensures full traceability and improves product utilization—factors that are increasingly appreciated by both consumers and distributors. Some systems also include AI-driven algorithms that assess quality in real-time, allowing operators to make fast, data-based decisions.

These methods are currently in a development phase, with a strong push toward the modernization of agricultural processes. Local companies are investing in advanced technologies to build a solid and differentiated brand image focused on quality and added value. This evolution aligns with the country’s food security strategy and the goal of reducing dependency on imports through innovation and local production excellence.

In this context, IntegraAT is actively collaborating in the consultancy and development of vegetable grading and packaging projects, helping implement solutions that optimize processes, improve efficiency, and position local producers as quality leaders in the region.