A lot of the equipment and packaging being used is manufactured in Yakima County. Washington Apples are sold in plastic bags made at Shields Printing in Yakima. George F. Joseph Co. The company uses cameras on the color sorter to determine different grades of red apples for shipping. The apples come off a belt and move under the color sorter. The pictures are taken and instantly stored in the computer's memory.
Apples are then automatically graded and sorted by the computer based on color and size.
But it's not like buying a computer. Despite the cost, Mansfield maintains the color sorter is needed. It would be nearly impossible for human sorters to classify today's varying grades of red apples for shipment to markets around the world. The machines are used widely in the apple industry, which received a boost recently in the global market when Japan and the Middle East opened their markets to Washington apples. Mansfield said a color sorter will soon be needed to sort additional grades of golden apples for those markets.