Are you running two grading lines when you only need one?
Grading potatoes and onions often means managing two crops, two sets of quality requirements and, in many cases, two separate grading solutions.
The Elisam CombiGrader changes that. One compact machine grades both potatoes and onions, with full internal and external quality control. Switch between crops within seconds while maintaining consistent quality and high throughput.
Following are the challenges you're likely facing today. But don't worry, we'll also walk through the solution built specifically to solve them.
#1. Single-crop equipment costs you twice, in machines and in space.
Grading potatoes and onions often means investing in two separate machines, doubling equipment, footprint and maintenance. Larger or duplicate lines can also drive-up construction and expansion costs. With the right dual-crop solution, one machine can do the work of two.
#2. Internal defects have nowhere to hide, but most graders can't see them.
A potato or onion can look perfect on the outside and still be a different story inside. Internal browning and hollow hearts in potatoes; internal rot, fusarium, ring rot and neck rot in onions: these defects sit beneath the surface and are often invisible to standard NIR technology too, which only reads a few millimeters under the skin. Left undetected, one affected potato or onion can infect others during storage or export, turning a single missed defect into a much bigger loss. It's one of the areas where a lot of grading equipment still falls short, for both crops. 
#3. Every market has its own quality bar, for two very different crops.
Retail, wholesale, processing, export: every market has its own grading specification, and every customer expects you to hit it, season after season. Potatoes and onions don't even share the same defects; you're watching for wireworm, scab and hollow hearts on one crop, and fusarium, root tear and neck rot on the other. Quality also shifts from season to season and batch to batch, so staying on top of two sets of standards at once is no small task.
#4. Labor is hard to find, and harvest peaks don't wait.
Skilled labor is scarcer and costlier than ever, right when harvest demands the most from your team. Staffing reliably shift to shift is hard enough, and scaling up for volume spikes or last-minute orders isn't as simple as adding hands. Poor-quality harvests make it worse, forcing even more manual sorting from a team already stretched thin. And harvest doesn't wait. Whether it's potatoes or onions, volume targets and delivery deadlines don't bend to your line's pace. Slower processing at peak time is one of the costliest bottlenecks a packhouse can face.
One compact solution for two crops
The Elisam CombiGrader is Ellips' grading solution built specifically for small to mid-sized packhouses handling 5,000–20,000 tons per year. One compact machine. Two crops. Switch effortlessly between potato and onion grading while maintaining consistent quality, high throughput and maximum operational efficiency all season long.
Here's why growers, packers and farms choose the Elisam CombiGrader:
#1. Switch effortlessly between potatoes and onions.
Whether you're supplying retail, wholesale, processing or export, the CombiGrader adapts quickly to different grading specifications and switches between potato and onion programs with a single click within seconds. One machine, ready to meet whatever quality standard the next order requires, while keeping throughput and consistency intact.
#2. Full internal and external quality control, powered by Ellips True-AI.
The CombiGrader uses Ellips True-AI technology for internal and external defect detection, analyzing every potato and onion with exceptional accuracy. It evaluates size, shape, weight and color, and detects defects including:
🥔 Potatoes: wireworm, rhizoctonia, compression bruising, mechanical damage, scab, scurf, punctures, growth cracks, sprouting, internal browning, hollow hearts and many more
🧅 Onions: rot, mold, sprouting, fusarium, root tear, balding, misshapen, sun scald, mechanical damage, internal rot, root plate, bulb rot, neck rot and many more
Using light transmittance technology, the system virtually slices every potato and onion into up to 20 scans, measuring how infra-red light is absorbed and transmitted through the entire product, not just a few millimeters under the skin like standard NIR. That means internal browning and hollow hearts in potatoes, and internal rot, fusarium, ring rot and neck rot in onions, get caught before they have the chance to spread to healthy product in storage or export.
#3. Consistent quality, order after order.
Meeting your customers' quality requirements season after season is what builds your reputation as a reliable supplier. With detection this precise, running consistently across two crops, that reputation stays protected order after order.
#4. Maximize throughput with less labor.
Built for speed, flexibility and grading capacity up to 15 t/h, the CombiGrader automates the sorting work that used to depend on manual labor. That means hitting volume targets, meeting tight delivery deadlines and responding to last-minute orders, without adding headcount every time demand spikes.
#5. Compact design, plug-and-play installation.
This 4-lane grader delivers high-capacity potato and onion grading in a footprint of just 15 meters. World-class grading doesn't require giant machinery, or a bigger packhouse to fit it in. And with plug-and-play installation in just one day, there's no complex engineering or long setup time: the CombiGrader integrates into your existing facility fast, so you're up and running with minimal disruption to your operation.
#6. ROI within 6 months.
No duplicate equipment. Less manual labor. More consistent quality across two crops on one compact line. It adds up fast: growers and packhouses running the Elisam CombiGrader see a return on investment within six months.
Protect your quality, your space and your bottom line.
The Elisam CombiGrader combines consistent grading, flexible output and a compact footprint in one solution for potatoes and onions. Switch effortlessly between crops while maintaining full internal and external quality control.
One compact machine. Two crops. One line doing the work of two.
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