We had a customer suggest this article recently and it is a good idea. So what are the top produce scale choices in the market currently? Are there any reviews or buying information currently available? Hopefully, we can tackle some of these subjects in the article below.
First let’s talk about what exactly a produce scale is?
Some folks suggest that only mechanical hanging dial scales describe this product.
You could limit the definition to just that but we feel that digital portion control style scales AND digital price computing scales can also be considered.
One common theme among any of the choices, is NTEP approval.
The scales must be NTEP certified legal for trade. This is important since you are buying / selling produce (vegetables, fruit, tomato, strawberry, etc…) based on the weight that the scale displays.
When it comes to the best mechanical produce scale, in our opinion it would be the Chatillon Century Series hanging dial scales. These are certainly the most popular NTEP legal for trade hanging scales that we offer. The advantages of this type of scale over a digital scale are typically the following things. 1. Power, the hanging scale does not need to be plugged into a wall outlet or have a battery. This is nice when you’re out at the farmers market all day and you are nowhere near a power outlet. 2. Durability, the mechanical hanging scales are generally pretty reliable and can last for many years when you treat them right.
The scale is available in either a 20 lb or 40 lb capacity and you can choose to have a scoop attachment or pan attachment. One negative of the hanging mechanical scales is the weight can sometimes be a little tricky to see on the dial.
You may have to wait a few seconds for the weight to settle down.
When you use a digital hanging produce scale, for weighing produce, the weight usually is displayed within a second. The weight is normally very solid. The NTEP certified scale that we like to recommend for most farmers or retail customers is the CAS SW-1 retail scale. This scale is available in a 5 lb, 10 lb, 20 lb or 50 lb capacity. The scale can operate on regular AC power or you can insert flashlight style batteries if you wish. This type of scale is NTEP legal for trade and fairly inexpensive.
One downside of the simple digital retail scale is the fact that it only displays weight.
If you wish to charge your customer a certain amount of money per pound of produce they purchase, then the easy way to do that would be with a digital price computing scale. There are many great choices for doing just that. In the past, we have done Torrey LPC-40L review and CAS S2000 JR review which you can click on to learn more about each scale. We’ve sold a lot of each of those from Torrey Scales and CAS Scale.
These scales do require either a standard wall outlet for power or you can use the internal rechargeable battery. If you’ve ever been to the market then you probably have seen more of these scales popping up all the time. The commercial price computing scales are fairly easy to use and are actually pretty reasonably priced.
One thing to watch out for is NTEP approval.
You want to make certain that the electronic computing scale that you purchase is truly NTEP legal for trade. There are some scales on the market that are not legal for trade and that is not acceptable in almost every state. If you are uncertain about a particular manufacturer or model number, contact us and we will be happy to help you determine what scale(s) are or are not appropriate for your application. We’ve covered topics relating to what we feel is the best farmers market scale several times over the years.
Summarizing, a produce scale can be several different styles of scale. You can choose a mechanical scale with dial, a basic digital scale, or even a digital scale with price computing capability. Buyers should do their homework and purchase the scale(s) that will meet their needs. We certainly encourage you to consider us for your weighing needs. If you have questions, feel free to contact our sales department via email. If you have particular articles that you would like to see in the future, email us suggestions as well.