Processing tomatoes first hit the stainless steel of a processing facility's superstructure at the unloading station. Shuttle trucks pick up loaded sets (the order in which they are picked up is determined by the type and quality of the tomatoes in the load), and drive them up to a special structure that includes a water dispersal rack and a series of flumes. Doors on the sides of the tomato tubs are opened by operators, and water is poured onto the load of tomatoes to wash them into the flumes. Morning Star pioneered a new type of unloading station, called the elevated dump and the water discharge booms. The elevated dump utilizes gravity to allow the tomatoes to flow down into the processing facility, rather than elevating the tomatoes into the facility.
Click the "PLAY VIDEO" button below to see a shuttle truck and loaded tomato trailers ready to be taken to the dump line.
The video dramatically illustrates the massive volume of tomatoes that are continuously being taken into a Morning Star processing facility.
A loaded set ready to be dumped.
...and they're off! Into the flume.
Tomatoes on their way to being sorted.