Founded with its current name in 1993, nowadays UNITEC employs more than 150 people. It has branches operating in the most important countries in the produce sector (France, Spain, Chile, Argentina and United States) and works as a marketing structure able to figure out the needs of the clients in other 20 countries.
UNITEC went from a €1.5 million turnover to more than 40 million in twenty years-90% of it comes from foreign markets.
FreshPlaza interviewed chairman Angelo Benedetti (in the photo) for his comment on the current business.
FreshPlaza (FP) - How was the machinery sector affected by the economic crisis?
Angelo Benedetti (AB) - The economic crisis and the consumption crisis led to a drop in prices. This in turn led to a decrease in investments.
We are now facing low demand and more competition. There are also particular situations, like the PSA, which almost cancelled all investments made on this type of fruit.
There are still some cases though, where demand for technologies that help cut processing cost is still good, as it helps fighting the difficulties of the sector.
FP - What are the subsidies at an Italian and European level for those companies wanting to buy machinery to process fruit and vegetables?
AB - We are not aware of all the subsidies because they are different for each type of organisation/private company/cooperative. And they also depend on the geographical area.
We would like to stress, though, how the main benefit coming from investing in technology is the saving of money, thanks to which the investment made can be quickly amortised. It also makes processing more efficient and it helps presenting the qualities of each type of fruit.
FP - What are the most promising markets from your point of view?
AB - We don't believe in promising markets, as we only rely on our capability of providing a solution for our clients, whether they are a few kilometres from home or on the other side of the world.
Clients who have invested in innovative technologies can improve the quality of their products, and this in turn stimulates new investments as they can count on the trust of producers and retailers/final consumers.
FP - Can you tell us something on your market share in Italy and abroad with respect to your direct competitors?
AB - It's not easy for me to answer this question, as I don't know the precise data.
We can say that the technologies created by our R&D department and the results they have achieved increased our work, but we don't know if this also happened to other manufacturers.
I think I can say that the positive attention towards our technologies has increased both at a domestic and international level.
UNITEC is at Macfrut (25th-27th September 2013).
Pavilion B; Stand 202-204 and 215-217.
Contacts:
UNITEC SpA
Via Provinciale Cotignola, 20/9
48022 Lugo (RA)
Tel.: +39 0545 288884
Fax: +39 0545 288709
Email: unitec@unitec-group.com
Website: www.unitec-group.com