About Target AG
Target AG Production, LLC has been a premier supplier of high-quality onions since 1996, offering fair pricing and a range of services including onion topping, processing, storage, and shipping. Over the past 23+ years, the company has expanded its loyal customer base and driven innovation in the onion industry. Target AG prioritizes strict quality standards and adapts to meet all customer needs, ensuring superior products and customer-focused services.
Commitment and consistency are the key to long-term success
"We’ve always kept our word, regardless of whether it was a good or bad year. Early on, my son Kerrick and I decided to commit to year-round pricing contracts. We’ve consistently honored these contracts, even when the market price was much higher. This persistent approach has earned us the loyalty of our clients. As a result, we secure annual and multi-year contracts regularly and our philosophy of keeping our word has proven successful."
Main goals and challenges
1. Deliver consistent quality to uphold our reputation
“Delivering consistent quality in a competitive market with a challenging product that has quality variations is crucial to maintaining your company’s reputation. Every day you must meet the strict market standards for size and quality including shape, color and external and internal defects. The human eye itself cannot fully judge quality and it is extremely important to find a camera system that provides the best performance."
2012
"In 2012, we engaged Ellips to install their optical grading solution on our existing sizer. This implementation was a remarkable moment for Kerrick, and me. We turned the system on andit worked perfectly."
2023 - 2024
"This year’s winter was particularly challenging. We encountered many defective onions from a specific variety. However, the Ellips True-AI technology performed exceptionally well for us, as it did for other packers who were utilizing the True-AI solution. Our external and internal defect detection performance was significantly improved.”
2. Increase your processing speed in order to handle increased volume
“To maintain a healthy profit margin, you must run a cost-effective operation. We focus on efficiency to avoid incurring excessive costs per onion. With rising labor costs and shortages, it’s essential to have grading technology that can quickly process all the onions. High throughput enables handling larger volumes which enables the company to scale up and grow. Time is another important factor. Our workforce is loyal, and we must reciprocate by ensuring they have a good quality of life, especially since they had to work long hours last year for example. By processing products faster, we can complete tasks sooner, benefiting everyone involved.”
2012
"Beginning in 2012, we adopted Ellips’ electronic grading technology. This technology was a significant improvement over our older solution which delivered inconsistent sizing, virtually no defect detection and was very unreliable. With Ellips-Elisam, we were able to increase our throughput by nearly 30% while dramatically improving product quality and consistency."
2024
"AI technology has significantly enhanced our production line by boosting throughput. Previously, when running lots with very uneven quality, they had to be graded at lower speed to accurately identify defects. Today, we can maintain a high speed during this process thanks to True-AI. This increased speed did necessitate the need for additional bagging equipment to effectively manage increased production rates."
3. Flexibility to meet different customer demands
"With True-AI, you can consistently guarantee the quality of your onions, no matter the quality
of the batch. AI provides the flexibility to quickly respond to different conditions and market demands. AI’s ability to identify complex defects and onion characteristics is truly remarkable. The combination of advanced AI technology and improved onion varieties has greatly enhanced our overall product quality."
