The popularity of Haith's root veg polisher has been confirmed on its 20^th birthday with the company that bought the very first model taking delivery of the latest machine to run off the company's South Yorkshire production line.

 The UK's leading supplier of vegetable handling machinery installed its first root veg polisher at Strawson Ltd's Nottinghamshire site in 2004. This month, two decades later, Haith's engineers returned to Bilsthorpe to commission Strawson's latest root veg polisher, which has been installed as part of a brand-new receiving, cleaning, washing, and trimming line.

 Since introducing the patented machine, Haith has sold over 500 root vegetable polishers. Today, they can be found on almost every continent, polishing potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, and celeriac.

 The latest version of the root veg polisher - the Mark III - features several innovative features, such as Haith's unique direct motor drive system, direct drive brush rollers, Cleaning In Place (CIP), which allows the operator to set the time when the polisher is cleaned by the detergent dosage system, which prevents bacteria from building up. CIP is complemented by a zero slip barrel drive system, an air-operated discharge door with finger-tip control and taper locks on all drive components. The Mark III also retains the automatic washdown capabilities, improved barrel drives, the upgraded slip ring, externally mounted cooper split bearings and the optional water flume bypass for handling loose skin potatoes, which were first seen on the Mark II.

 "We are very pleased to be making the 20^th anniversary of the Haith root veg polisher that little bit more special," says Harry Strawson, director of Strawson Ltd. "We have a long-standing relationship with Haith and enjoy working with them. The quality of their machinery is fantastic; they're close by, their team is always personable, and we work very well with them. Our site has practically all Haith machinery, and over the last two decades, the polishers have been incredibly reliable and efficient. They've certainly helped us deliver an excellent product to our customers."

 Duane Hill, Haith's managing director, adds: "We take great pride in developing vegetable handling solutions that people can trust. The polisher design is unique, and the fact that the machine can be found in North America, Australia, Japan, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Scandinavia, South Africa and India, as well as the UK, proves its popularity and reliability. I believe the Root Veg polisher is the most efficient on the market. In addition to being low maintenance, it can add value as its brush polishing system removes surface blemishes and grit from the eyes and indentations, thereby increasing yields by up to15%. We're delighted to have marked twenty years of supplying the root veg polisher and judging by our order book; it is still a very popular machine today."

 For more information about Haith and its leading range of vegetable handling solutions, please visit www.haith.co.uk.