This project has developed a business plan for the international expansion of BoMill’s technology – a revolutionary single kernel grain sorting technology based on near-infrared (NIR) analysis in transmittance mode. In the modern agriculture economy, the availability and quality of grain, and the knowledge of their different quality fractions are recognized as determinants of the sustained food security and food safety. Any changes in the numbers, size, or quality of grains are important because they influence the yield. Grain sorting equipment is used to remove the offending material (e.g. fusarium infested kernels) from the batch to boost the economic value of the remaining grain fraction. However, the grain industry is still lacking an efficient method of achieving this goal. Today, the main technology used is optical sorter (sorting by visible surface properties). The low accuracy of this method results in unmotivated downgrading of a large part of the grain produced, lower yield from the harvested area and lost revenue for the producer. The TriQ system is the first technology enabling sorting beyond visible surface properties. With TriQ, every single kernel of an entire batch is analysed and sorted according to its internal quality. This means that high quality fractions can be segregated out of batches that have an inferior average quality, allowing the user to maximize yields and capture the hidden value. TriQ fulfils thus a clear unmet market need and has the potential to revolutionize the grain sorting industry. With its unique sorting capabilities, the TriQ system contributes to food security and food safety in different places in the value chain from “farm to fork”. BoMill’s strategy is to establish the company on an international level as the “first of choice” provider of grain sorting technologies. The project is the key step towards realising this vision.
