Equipment, sorting machinery, refrigerated units, tractors and accessories can now find their place even if second hand.
Troostwijk, the largest auctioneer in Europe, offers swift and reliable appraisal and consultancy services. Troostwijk firmly believes everything has its value and that each product can have a longer life than that a single owner considers it to have. We talked about it with general manager Paolo Sbattella (in the photo).
FreshPlaza (FP): What are Troostwijk's objectives?
Paolo Sbattella (PS): We have the objective of obtaining the best return possible from the residue value of fresh produce equipment through online auctions. Troostwijk auctions 500,000 items a year. What is more, the company offers appraisal services for the agricultural, food, fresh produce, metallurgical, wood and construction sectors.
FP: Are auctions popular in Italy?
PS: Less than in northern Europe. Our role is to help clients recover the residual value of their equipment. Everything has a value, even second-hand machinery, a set of bins or a vegetable processing line. For every company that wants to recover the residual value of its equipment, there is another that wants to start off investing not a lot of money.
FP: What should operators do to make a purchase?
PS: They just need to log on to our website and see what's on auction all over Europe and maybe make an offer. They can even see the item in person, even though our experts have already inspected all of them beforehand.
FP: What are the figures for Italy?
PS: We generally have 60-70 auctions out of 1700 on a European level. However, Italian operators can take part in auctions from all countries. The food and agricultural industry represents 25% of our turnover, in fact we've sold fruit sorters, carrot and artichoke packagers and equipment to make fruit juice.
FP: Who pays for transport?
PS: Buyers. Which is normal as, for certain complex equipment, they will have their own expert technicians or trusted transporters.
FP: Are there particular trends in Italy?
PS: Let's say we noticed that there are a lot of exchanges between southern Europe and North Africa.
Website: www.troostwijkauctions.com/it/