With the recent acquisition of Fomesa, in Spain, the New Zealand-based sorting solutions company Compac confirmed its interest in expanding in Europe. Global Head of Sales and Marketing Mike Riley states that, “This is historically a very important market for us, with customers looking more for us to design, build and help operate complete world-class packing houses and be available to promptly fix any problems.”
"This approach of taking full responsibility and providing support," according to Mike, "Is where the market is headed, and the only way we can ensure we live up to Compac standards is to do that as Compac. This made the Fomesa acquisition all the more compelling, as it will become the springboard for other parts of Europe and improve the firm’s competitiveness.”
In Spain, Compac has also signed a partnership with García Aranda, which supplies organic lemons, among other products, to Lidl supermarkets. “What we find exciting is the possibility of Lidl being glad that García Aranda made that decision and was happy to rely on the quality provided by Compac, as this could also influence other suppliers,” affirms Mike.
Lidl is naturally a very successful and growing brand in Europe; thus, Mike wonders: “How do we get Lidl to understand what we are doing and ask other suppliers how they are grading their fruit?” This is something that can make a long-term difference.
The key question, according to Mike, is “How do we continue to grow those conversations?” From end to end of the supply chain, Compac is becoming really focused on traceability, food safety and food security, driven by supermarkets as well as its customers. Therefore, “The more we have these conversations and understand how the system works, the better we can map out the ecosystem and put more complete solutions together,” he says.
“Ultimately, this is what supermarkets and customers are demanding; that’s why we are trying to think bigger and broader about the entire supply and value chain and figure out where else we could be playing, what partners we should have and which technologies we should invest in.”
Mike stresses that, in different parts of the world, Compac has amassed plenty of knowledge and competency in ways of handling particular types of produce, and that the industry benefits from the sharing of that knowledge.
“There are still plenty of opportunities to create standards and best practice, but capturing what’s state-of-the-art and knowing how to share that information with other markets with similar challenges also involves understanding, from a marketing standpoint, what makes each local market different.”
Mike illustrates this with the example of a South African citrus operator looking to do something similar to another in Central Valley, California, but packing the product in a completely different way. “By suggesting doing things in the same way, you are showing you don’t understand the difference. The technology vendor must organise itself around what’s the same and what’s different, which is a continuous challenge for us.”
Mike Riley concludes that “The next chapter for Compac lies more on the solutions for each targeted customer and the conversations with the industry to find out about issues and trends, such as traceability and food safety. All in all, the more we can understand the differences between each consumer, the more successful we will be.”
F
or more information:
Nathan Soich
Compac
Tel: +64 99292511
Email: nathan.soich@compacsort.com
www.compacsort.com
"This approach of taking full responsibility and providing support," according to Mike, "Is where the market is headed, and the only way we can ensure we live up to Compac standards is to do that as Compac. This made the Fomesa acquisition all the more compelling, as it will become the springboard for other parts of Europe and improve the firm’s competitiveness.”
In Spain, Compac has also signed a partnership with García Aranda, which supplies organic lemons, among other products, to Lidl supermarkets. “What we find exciting is the possibility of Lidl being glad that García Aranda made that decision and was happy to rely on the quality provided by Compac, as this could also influence other suppliers,” affirms Mike.
Lidl is naturally a very successful and growing brand in Europe; thus, Mike wonders: “How do we get Lidl to understand what we are doing and ask other suppliers how they are grading their fruit?” This is something that can make a long-term difference.
The key question, according to Mike, is “How do we continue to grow those conversations?” From end to end of the supply chain, Compac is becoming really focused on traceability, food safety and food security, driven by supermarkets as well as its customers. Therefore, “The more we have these conversations and understand how the system works, the better we can map out the ecosystem and put more complete solutions together,” he says.
“Ultimately, this is what supermarkets and customers are demanding; that’s why we are trying to think bigger and broader about the entire supply and value chain and figure out where else we could be playing, what partners we should have and which technologies we should invest in.”
Mike stresses that, in different parts of the world, Compac has amassed plenty of knowledge and competency in ways of handling particular types of produce, and that the industry benefits from the sharing of that knowledge.
“There are still plenty of opportunities to create standards and best practice, but capturing what’s state-of-the-art and knowing how to share that information with other markets with similar challenges also involves understanding, from a marketing standpoint, what makes each local market different.”
Mike illustrates this with the example of a South African citrus operator looking to do something similar to another in Central Valley, California, but packing the product in a completely different way. “By suggesting doing things in the same way, you are showing you don’t understand the difference. The technology vendor must organise itself around what’s the same and what’s different, which is a continuous challenge for us.”
Mike Riley concludes that “The next chapter for Compac lies more on the solutions for each targeted customer and the conversations with the industry to find out about issues and trends, such as traceability and food safety. All in all, the more we can understand the differences between each consumer, the more successful we will be.”
F
or more information:Nathan Soich
Compac
Tel: +64 99292511
Email: nathan.soich@compacsort.com
www.compacsort.com