ANAHEIM, Calif — Southern California was a perfect venue for Compac, part of TOMRA Food, to show its wares.
Besides the crowd of more than 20,000, proximity to citrus groves was a plus.
“We service the biggest lemons packers in North America, Europe, and South America, so (citrus) is a big, big category for us,” said Ken Moynihan, CEO at Compac. Of course, Compac has a business that spans the globe so just about any location would be close to some of its business interests.
Moynihan said apples are also a big category. Depending on the year, apple can be the company’s biggest category, he said.
At the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit in October, Compac was touting its UltraView as the latest enhancement in fruit packing technology.
“We are in the business of getting the most value, and in order to do that we have to know everything there is to know about that piece of fruit,” he said. “And in order to that, we have to see everything.”
The UltraView can look at the stem cavity of an apple or the tip of a lemon, better than standard system sorters.“The (UltraView) finalizes the stretch from no automation to full automation,” he said.
The UltraView can be added on to an existing Compac Spectrim packing line cabinet. “The lines have all been designed to take this addition; it has been in planning for a long time,” he said.
Moynihan said the citrus category represents a big area of growth in its core market.
“We’re pushing hard to continue to grow the developing markets in South Africa and Latin America,” he said.
“The Southern Hemisphere markets that are sending exports to the Northern Hemisphere are growing very quickly for us and we’re seeing very big success. Countries like South Africa, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico represent growth markets for the company, he said.
Just before Fresh Summit Compac and Sienz, a manufacturer, integrator and service provider to packers of fresh fruit and produce, announced they have entered into a partnership agreement for the supply of produce grading solutions in Australia and New Zealand across a range of selected produce categories, according to a news release.
