For more than half a century, Barba Stathis has been a household name in Greece, known for supplying vegetables that balance authenticity with quality and innovation.
The company’s commitment to freshness is backed by its Integrated Crop Management system and advanced processing facilities designed to retain nutritional value from farm to freezer.
Now, Barba Stathis is leaning more heavily on automation to maintain its leadership in the competitive European frozen food sector. Multihead weighers have been part of its operations since the 1980s. But the company recently expanded its use of Ishida machinery, adding six 14-head weighers and one 20-head model from Ishida’s CCW-RV and CCW-RVE ranges at its Sindos facility, one of the most technologically advanced packing plants for fresh and frozen produce in Europe.
The upgrade, which began in phases in 2017, reflects a strategy not only to boost capacity but also to gather valuable production data for process optimization. “The vision and rationale behind selecting Ishida equipment and the re-design of the production processes was not only to meet immediate production requirements but also to collect valuable data for further investigation and to continuously enhance the production process,” said Vassilis Papoulias, Industrial Infrastructure & Technological Development Director at Barba Stathis.
The investment is already paying off. Output has increased by up to 10% across product lines, while pack weights are more consistent and product giveaway has dropped by 1.5% compared with the previous system. The equipment handles a broad portfolio—from frozen vegetables and vegetable-rice mixes to pastas and plant-based items—in retail pack sizes from 300 grams to 2.5 kilograms, as well as 10-kilogram bags for foodservice clients.
“Our main criteria in the selection of the weighers were to achieve superior efficiency, higher capacity and excellent weighing accuracy from a supplier who could provide comprehensive service support,” said Antigonos Maltezos, Plant Manager Frozen Foods.
Ishida’s RV and RVE models are designed to deliver accuracy at speed, thanks to features such as programmable digital filtering, automatic feeder adjustments, and optimized weigh-hopper timing. For Barba Stathis, which manages up to seven product changeovers each day, the machines’ ease of setup and reliability under 24-hour operation are vital. Their waterproof construction also reduces daily cleaning time to about 20 minutes.
The system extends beyond weighers. Four Ishida DACS-GN-SE-050 checkweighers provide a final quality check, combining waterproof construction with proprietary loadcell technology to ensure regulatory and retailer compliance. An intuitive keypad display and quick-release stainless steel belts make them easy to operate and maintain.
The company has also adopted Ishida’s Data Capture System, which compiles statistics from the checkweighers to minimize waste and improve overall equipment effectiveness. “The performance and reliability of all the Ishida equipment have enabled us to increase productivity without compromising on product safety or quality,” Mr. Maltezos said.
Executives expect the investment to pay for itself within three years. “We will certainly be investing in further Ishida multihead weighers and checkweighers as we continue to grow our business,” Mr. Papoulias said.
Find out more at: https://www.barbastathis.com/en