The fresh produce industry is an exciting space full of innovative businesses – big and small – that are making a difference in our industry.

Every quarter, Volm Companies is highlighting a business that demonstrates industry leadership by embracing automation. This season, we're profiling NoKota Packers, Inc., a third generation packer and shipper of potatoes that was founded in 1979. NoKota Packers is known for its superior quality and state-of-the-art facility in Buxton, N.D.

In this recent interview with Volm, here’s what NoKota Packers had to say about its dedicated staff, the future of the industry, and why robotic palletizers are such a game-changer.
 

Q: Tell us about your business – what do you grow and/or pack?

A: NoKota Packers, Inc. has been storing, washing, packing and shipping tablestock potatoes in the Red River Valley since 1979. We primarily do red varieties, but in the past four years we have also added yellow varieties. We contract with growers in our area to grow and harvest all of our potatoes we handle. These growers are within a 100-mile radius of our plant in Buxton, N.D.
 

Q: What is the best thing about your facility or operations?

A: NoKota Packers, Inc. has a state-of-the-art, mainly concrete storage facility where we are able to control temperature and humidity during our storage season of September–May. We work with growers that put the time, energy and funds into growing a high-quality product. Our employees are dedicated to our mission of Quality, Integrity, and Service and many of them have been with us for over 10 years. Multiple have tenures of near or over 20 years. This experience lends us to have an efficient and successful operation.
 

Q: What Volmpack or Volmstack equipment has made the most impact on your operations?

A: The automatic baggers and balers have allowed us to continue to increase packaging opportunities, which in turn bring in a higher profit margin than bulk packing. The ability to let the machines do the work has allowed us to fill positions that are unfilled or hard to keep filled. The most recent addition of the robotic palletizer has been imperative to our ability to complete orders, limit injury of employees, and run our packing lines without interruption for absences.
 

Q: How has that specific equipment solution made a difference in your operations?

A: The robotic palletizer has allowed us to run our two main packing lines no matter our attendance. We would estimate that this alone saves us 10+ hours a week in downtime. This addition also allows us to stagger breaks so we can continue to run during times that we would be required to shut down.
 

Q: If you could make one prediction for the future of the fresh produce industry, what would it be?

A: Pack sizes and packaging materials will continue to develop and change. Consumers vary in their needs and wants for sizes of product and bag size. Right now, consumers are heavy into yellow varieties in smaller packs – like 3# and 1#. The need and want for a more sustainable package continues to evolve as well. We are seeing innovations like biodegradable bags, small paper bags, etc.
 

Q: What’s next for your business? Do you have any plans you’d like to share?

A: Our main focus immediately is to maximize the new addition of the robotic palletizer (and the new optical sorter we put in as well). We will also be continuing to look at other areas we can automate and improve on over the next few years.
 

More from NoKota Packers (Video)
A Look Inside at NoKota Packers' Operations (Video)
 

NoKota Packers Inc Website