How to Choose a Carrot Processing Line: Washing, Sizing and Packing

Fresh carrots that reach a supermarket shelf or an export container have gone through three stages that need to be perfectly integrated: washing, size classification and packing.

This guide is for you if you run a packing house, a cooperative or a carrot farm and are evaluating how to mechanize those stages. We cover the process, the two configurations Albion manufactures (the complete ZC 8000 line and the ZCR sizer), how to choose, an orientative sizing example, and what Simon, C-Pack and Newtec, three brands Albion represents in Argentina, add.

Why mechanize washing and sizing?

1. Continuous flow. On the ZC 8000, carrots go from bin to final pack in a single pass.
2. Consistent grading. The sizer separates by size according to the commercial matrix you define, always with the same criteria.
3. Resources where they pay off. Dry pre-cleaning reduces the dirt reaching the water, and inspection removes roots with serious defects before resources are invested in sizing.
4. Steady pace. An accumulation disc absorbs flow peaks and keeps the sizing rate steady.
5. Sanitary design. Product-contact surfaces are AISI 304 stainless steel.

The stages of carrot processing

The ZC 8000 integrates 11 machines, from bin to final pack. Grouped by function, the flow looks like this:

Stage 1 — Receiving and washing

• Receiving and Pre-cleaning Screen: separates dry soil and fragments before washing.
• Rotary Washer: a drum with water spray removes the soil adhered to the root.

Stage 2 — Discarding and inspection

• Roller Discard Unit: drops out-of-size carrots and broken pieces through the gaps.
• Inspection Conveyor: operators discard roots with serious defects.
• Lower Discard Conveyor: collects everything separated and takes it off the line.
• Bagging Conveyor for Second Sorting: final commercial sorting station, with bagging on the same conveyor.

Stage 3 — Sizing and packing

• Accumulation Disc and Elevator: absorb flow peaks and carry the flow up to the sizer inlet.
• Sizer: separates carrots by size according to the defined commercial matrix.
• Distribution Conveyor and Final Bagging Conveyor: route each grade to its packing station and deliver the final pack, which can be a bag, net, tray or case.

The two available configurations

Albion manufactures two configurations for carrots. They don’t compete with each other: they answer two different starting points.

Model	Capacity	What it includes / who it’s for
ZC 8000	6,000–8,000 kg/h	Complete line of 11 machines: pre-cleaning, washing, discarding, inspection, accumulation, sizing and bagging. For large packers and cooperatives.
ZCR	To be defined per customer integration	Mechanical roller sizer, as a standalone unit. For plants that already wash and pack and size by hand today.

ZC 8000: from bin to pack in a single pass

The ZC 8000 is designed for fresh carrots headed to retail or export: it integrates all three stages in a continuous flow, and its outlet adapts to the packaging your customer asks for. Its page shows the 11 machines individually.

ZCR: the reference sizer

The ZCR is a mechanical roller sizer for fresh and industrial carrots, proven in Argentine and Chilean packing houses for decades. Carrots travel along rollers with progressively increasing spacing and drop by gravity when the gap matches their size grade, so they come out classified into multiple output lanes. There are no aggressive contact parts, and maintenance is minimal: the rollers are replaced in sections.

How to choose your configuration

• What do you have in your plant today? If you’re starting from scratch, the reference is the ZC 8000. If you already wash and pack but size by hand, that is your bottleneck: the ZCR automates it and integrates with your existing washing line.
• How much volume do you process? The ZC 8000 runs at 6,000–8,000 kg/h. If your operation is far from that range, tell us about your case before deciding.
• How do you present the product? If the supermarket asks for nets, or you need high-speed weight-based bagging, add C-Pack or Newtec at the end of the line.
• Where do your carrots come from? If you harvest your own, a Simon harvester delivers them tops-free and ready for washing.

If your plant is only missing a transport or visual-inspection step, look at the equipment Albion builds as individual units, such as elevators and inspection conveyors.

Sizing example (orientative)

Annual capacity = hourly capacity × hours per day × days per year

Assumption: standard operation of 8 hours per day × 200 days per year = 1,600 hours per year.

• At 6,000 kg/h, the low end of the ZC 8000: 9,600 tons per year, about 48 tons per day.
• At 8,000 kg/h, the high end: 12,800 tons per year, about 64 tons per day.

The other way around: to process 10,000 tons per year under the same assumption, you need 10,000,000 kg ÷ 1,600 h = 6,250 kg/h on average, within the ZC 8000 range. If that volume had to be processed in half the days, the average rises to 12,500 kg/h, which exceeds the range of a single ZC 8000: in that case, it’s worth reviewing the approach with us.

Important: this is an orientative calculation based on an operating assumption, not a production guarantee. The final proposal is built from your plant’s actual data.

How Simon, C-Pack and Newtec complement the line

Albion represents and distributes these three brands in Argentina. They are not made by Albion: they are built by their own manufacturers and fit in before and after the process.

Before the line: Simon (France)

Simon is a French manufacturer of horticultural farming machinery. In Argentina, our best-selling Simon equipment is carrot harvesters: they lift carrots from the field and deliver them tops-free, ready to enter the washing line.

Net packing: C-Pack (Germany)

C-Pack is a German family-owned company with over 50 years manufacturing net-packaging machines, the presentation supermarkets demand for fresh produce. Albion represents its full catalog: the VAC and VAS automatic net packers and the HCL 912 and HS 913 semi-automatic models.

Weight-based packing: Newtec (Denmark)

Newtec is a Danish manufacturer of weighing, packing and optical sorting machinery for fruits and vegetables. Its specialty is multi-head weighers, which bag by weight at high speed with consistent precision and minimal product loss. On an Albion carrot line they slot in as the final packaging module, receiving the product already washed and sized. Albion provides installation, technical support and after-sales service.

With the Simon harvester at the start and the Newtec weigher at the end, the field → harvest → washing → sizing → packing flow is complete.

Warranty, pre-assembly, financing and support

• 12-month warranty on mechanical parts of Albion’s own manufacture. It does not cover consumables or damage caused by improper maintenance.
• Pre-assembly: lines ship pre-assembled from Albion’s workshop.
• Financing: many customers finance the investment through Banco Nación credit lines for domestic industrial machinery in Argentina. You handle the application with the bank; Albion issues the documentation.
• Support: after-sales technical support is concentrated in Latin America, but equipment ships anywhere in the world. Albion equipment operates today in 18 countries across 6 continents.

Behind it is a family company from Mendoza, founded in 1966 by Atilio César Dal Pozzo and led today by the second generation, with more than 50 in-house experts.

Next step

1. Send us your operation’s data: the volume you process or plan to process, the equipment you have today, how you pack, and your plant’s basic data.
2. Get a sized proposal: complete line, standalone sizer, or either one combined with the represented brands.
3. Review financing through Banco Nación credit lines, if it applies to your case.

See photos and technical details on our carrot lines page, or contact us to start your quote.