About Agripo®
The Agripo® System from Intrx is designed to create profitable sales of root crops thanks to reduced waste, easier handling, and efficient logistics. Agripo® also improves the working environment due to the elimination of heavy lifting. The system has been developed and proven for more than 30 years to meet the demands and needs of a modern store.
Agripo® lifting system is mainly used in combination with an Octabin (an octagonal carboard box) that can hold 200 kg of root crops. The box is made of 100% recyclable corrugated cardboard.
Since the system gives the customer a good overview and the opportunity to pick their root vegetables at the right ergonomic height, it will increase sales.
The Octabin is filled with root crops. Four boxes, totaling 800 kilos of root crops, fits on one pallet (80×120 cm). The lift can also be used in combination with a wood container which holds 250 or 100 kilos of root crops.
The Agripo® system makes it easy for the store’s employees to get large amounts of root crops from the loading dock and into the supermarket. Everything is smooth and fast and they can handle hundreds of kilos without lifting a thing. The system also reduce wastage by always keeping the potatoes protected from light, so they do not turn green.
A mishap that became a revolution
The year was 1982. The Swedish farmer Peter Aschan had hectic days when the potatoes were to be harvested and prepared for delivery to the stores.
One day he drove into his warehouse with a box of potatoes loaded on the tractor and was in a bit of a hurry when he was about to back out. In his hurry he failed to tilt the fork of the tractor enough, and the two planks on the potato container were torn off. Peter saw how all the potatoes rolled out on the warehouse floor. A sad mishap during an already stressful day.
But Peter noticed what a nice little pile the potatoes had landed in. And he got an idea – what if you could lift the potato box and set up a table in front of it where the potatoes could roll out, like a kind of potato dispenser?
Peter started sketching to find a design. After only 14 days, the first prototype was ready. He built a hatch on the potato box and an electric lift that could lift the box to the right height.
Then he presented his invention to the nearest supermarket owner, who loved the idea of a potato dispenser. The rumor about this invention spread quickly in the trade. Shop owners from all Sweden traveled to Habo to see the Agripo System with their own eyes.
The media called Peter’s invention a potato revolution.
Not only was it easier to handle the potatoes with the Agripo® System, but there was also less wastage of green potatoes as they now were protected from light. The Agripo® System also became profitable for customers, as it became cheaper to buy potatoes in bulk compared to buying pre-packaged potatoes.
Today, Agripo® is respresented in more than 3000 stores and 15 different countries (all the way to Australia) – all thanks to a happy accident and Peter Aschan’s brilliant idea.