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Our CEO Duncan Robertson was delighted to participate in this week’s episode of The FoodTalk Show with Susie Warran-Smith CBE DL and Oliver Lloyd – and to discuss Dogtooth’s on-going progress in the area of dextrous harvest automation.
Do listen in via the link below!
https://foodtalk.co.uk/podcasts/dogtooth-a-revolution-in-farming
You will want to turn the sound up on this video!
It is the sound of a team of our fourth generation robots picking overnight in an otherwise deserted glasshouse. These robots have been operated for 16 hours a day throughout 2024 – including at night, when cooler conditions can sometimes help to prolong the shelf life of picked fruit. Now our next generation “Gen5” robots are capable of being used for up to 24 hours a day. Not only does this increase their productive output, but the flexibility of operating robots for one, two, or three eight-hour shifts helps our customers to cope with the peaks and troughs of production.
We are thrilled to welcome three outstanding new members to our team: Patrick Wiltshire, Alex Wheatley and Daniel Rutterford.
Patrick joins our Hardware team as Mechanical Design Engineer, bringing with him extensive experience in developing equipment for the construction and events industries. His passion for developing new and exciting products makes him a valuable asset as we continue to innovate and grow. Outside of work, Patrick enjoys driving (or fixing!) classic cars.
Alex, our new Standards and Compliance Engineer, comes to us with a strong background in quality assurance and regulatory compliance. His expertise in managing compliance processes for new high-tech products aligns perfectly with our commitment to delivering high-quality products. Alex is a passionate fan of live music and is also an enthusiastic table-top and miniatures gamer, fond of Euro-games and deck building.
Joining us as Manufacturing Engineer, Daniel Rutterford brings a wealth of knowledge from over 11 years of experience working in manufacturing and testing laboratories. His insights into process optimisation and cycle time reduction will undoubtedly help drive our efforts for continuous improvement. When not at work, Daniel enjoys cooking, home brewing, and spending time outdoors exploring with his partner and son.
Welcome aboard!
A few of our robots were lucky enough to co-star in Rick Stein’s Food Stories on BBC Two this evening – alongside Sir James Dyson himself. Rick Stein and Sir James have both thought very deeply on the subject of sustainable food production – and by developing state-of-the-art fruit harvesting robots alongside inspiring and innovative customers such as Dyson Farming and Hugh Lowe Farms, Dogtooth is delighted to be doing its part to improve the sustainability and security of UK food production.
If you have access to BBC iPlayer (UK TV license payers only), you can watch the episode here.
Last week, James Dyson spoke to Sarah Rainey of the Daily Mail ahead of her visit to th Dyson Farming glasshouse in Lincolnshire, where – with the aid of 20 of Dogtooth’s strawberry harvesting robots – the team are working hard to produce British grown strawberries at Christmas.
Read the full article here.
Dogtooth is making the news! We recently welcomed BBC News to Hugh Lowe Farms to see our strawberry harvesting robots picking fruit in the polytunnels. Their visit was an opportunity to explain how AI and robotic automation are helping to make agriculture become more sustainable.
This clip featured in last week’s episode of “Talking Business” alongside some other remarkable innovations helping to drive sustainability. If you’re in the UK, you can watch the whole episode via BBC iPlayer.
Our strawberry harvesting robot made its royal debut this week at Hampton Court Palace for the 2023 Global Investment Summit. We were delighted to have been selected by the Department of Business and Trade to represent the UK’s nascent agri-robotics sector – and to have the opportunity to discuss our business with Oliver Dowden, Deputy Prime Minister, and Andrew Griffith MP Andrew Griffith, Minister of State for Science, Research, & Innovation. We were also rather pleased that our robot was placed next to some beautiful cars from Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd and McLaren Group, established British businesses that we love!
Last week marked a significant milestone at Dogtooth. Thanks to our fantastic field operations teams, we hit a groundbreaking record: one million strawberries picked this season (and counting!).
It’s not just about the number, it’s about the innovation, the technology, and the drive behind each pick. Congratulations to the entire team on this incredible achievement!
And the weight of one million strawberries? About 25 tonnes.
Yesterday 12 members of the Dogtooth team took part in the 30th edition of the fantastic #ChariotsOfFire race through the heart of Cambridge.
It was a great effort by everyone, demonstrating characteristic competitiveness, and more importantly a great reason to raise money for the fantastic Arthur Rank Hospice Charity. If you can please help them to do even more by contributing to our fundraising efforts.
This interesting documentary feature was created by Freethink, who approached us late 2022 to appear in their series, “Hard Reset” which focuses on companies and people taking revolutionary approaches to help solve the world’s biggest challenges.
We had the pleasure of welcoming Director Nick Tucker and his film crew to our facility in October to take a closer look at our intelligent robots, find out what makes them unique, and to capture them in action picking fruit on a UK farm.
Dogtooth was honoured to feature in last month’s edition of Ingenia Magazine, the official magazine of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
As the nights draw in (at least for our northern hemisphere customers), we have made good use of our robots’ night picking capabilities.
This year we have been operating robots in 16 hour shifts, increasing capital utilization and maximizing productivity.
Even in Summer, night picking can be beneficial – not only because double shifting allows us to flex capacity to address production peaks but also because the shelf life of berry fruits can be extended by up to two weeks when berries are picked in cooler night time conditions.