Dole Superkids

When the bins of grapefruit reach the packinghouse, they are poured onto a series of moving rollers to be sorted by size. Fruit that are too small drop into a bin to be used for juicing. Fruits that have spoiled are also removed.

Then the grapefruit is washed.

The first step is to loosen the dirt on the outer skin in a water bath. Then they go through a shower to wash off the remaining dirt.

Next, the citrus fruit gets thoroughly scrubbed on a “brush bed” using soap, water, and a series of brushes that spin the fruit around vigorously The fruit are now very clean!

After a thorough rinse, the cleaned fruit is dried by either passing through a series of warm dryers or by a sponge roll that soaks up the extra water.

Then the fruit are graded, or sorted, again – this time by hand. Fruits that are too small or have blemishes are removed and used for juicing.

During washing, most of the fruit’s natural wax is removed. This wax must be replaced or the fruit will dry out and spoil very quickly. Some waxes are sprayed on, others are brushed on, and sometimes the fruit is dipped! Then the wax is dried onto the fruit by a “wax-setter”.

Next, a stamp-rolling machine stamps the fruit. Sometimes the stamps are put on by hand. Can you imagine putting a sticker on all of those fruits? Wow!

After stamping, the fruit is sorted one more time by size, and then packed into cardboard boxes. The packing station consists of a series of roller-board tables, where fruit is delivered by size. The fruit then rolls in a single line to the individual packers to be boxed.

Grapefruit should be stored and shipped at the same temperature, depending upon the season. An early harvest should be stored at 60 degrees Fahrenheit, while a later season harvest can be stored at 50 degrees Fahrenheit.