Fresh produce suppliers can look forward to a one-stop-shop solution to sorting and packing equipment, following Compac Sorting Equipment's 100% acquisition in Spanish post-harvest machinery manufacturer Fomesa.

The move will allow the New Zealand-based company to plug gaps in its product range that have previously prevented it from offering a complete solution to some customers, according to marketing executive Nathan Soich.

"Fomesa’s palletizing and fruit (especially citrus) treatment lines are the two standout product categories but there are a number of other products in the range relating to bin and field crate infeed systems and automated pattern packing systems which will be perfect additions to Compac’s portfolio," Soich told www.freshfruitportal.com.

Fomesa supplies infeed, washing, waxing and treatment equipment through to automated packing and palletizing solutions, while Compac is currently very strong in sorting, as well as additional equipment for infeed and packing.

Soich said Compac's philosophy had always been to find and partner with the best suppliers to the industry.

"Through this method you then have specialists in sorting machinery as well as specialists in infeed, fruit treatment and palletizing who are all working as part of a group to provide the best complete solution to the customer," he explained.

Hamish Kennedy, founder and managing director of Compac Sorting Equipment, confirmed in a press release that the acquisition would significantly strengthen the group’s turnkey solutions in various markets.

"Increasingly the market is looking for one provider to develop, supply and service the complete sorting, packing and automation solution," he noted.

"We now have more options in our toolbox for post-harvest equipment thanks to Compac-Fomesa."

Expanding the market

Soich noted there were already several very strong post-harvest equipment suppliers in the industry, which is why Compac invested more than 12% of its turnover in research and development to continue competing in the race to provide the best technology.

Just last week week the firm also received a three-year research and development grant of NZ$5.5 million (US$4.6 million) from the New Zealand government’s funding division, Callaghan Innovation.

This will further enable Compac to maintain its position as a technology leader, according to Soich.

Currently Compac is present in over 40 countries but the group sees significant potential to expand in a number of developing markets.

Since Fomesa already has a large footprint in Latin America, mostly notably in the citrus sector, Compac plans to bring the company's products to Compac's existing customers in other Southern Hemisphere countries.

"We will be expanding the offer to markets such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa," Soich revealed.

"It will remove some gaps which we currently have in our product portfolio, such as palletizing. Compac has not developed a palletizing solution internally so the ability to offer palletizing as an option will be a huge advantage for us."

Strength in numbers

Fomesa brings additional experience and staff to the Compac group, and Soich expects to continue developing the Spanish business' products.

"Some of this development will be to meet specific market requirements in order to expand the areas where these products can be sold, and, in other cases, it will be to make the integration between all of our products more seamless.

Fomesa has supplied more than 57 countries operating in the fresh produce industry for over 58 years. Compac and the Fomesa Group also have a long history since Fomesa Machinery was an agent for Compac in Spain between 1997 and 2001.

Last year the two firms began to discuss their future which led to the acquisition negotiations that were finalised on 10 February with the signing of the deal at Fomesa's offices in Valencia.

Compac-Fomesa joins the six other specialists divisions within the Compac group: Compac Sorting Equipment, Compac-FHS, Compac-Sorma, Compac Latin America, Compac Asia and Taste Technologies.

Given all of its suppliers are Compac-owned companies, Soich noted customers could be assured the group's expanding product offering would be fully integrated.

"Because of the way Compac operates, we’re specialists at the integration of various products into the overall solution," he explained.

"This gives the customer not only a single point of contact for a solution but one of our strengths is also in how we can customise integration between other third party equipment and our own or existing equipment the customer may wish to reuse."

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