Compac Scores Follow-On US Deal

Media Release

17 May 2004

Compac Scores Follow-On Us. Deal

Confirmation of a further 12 lanes of highly specialised fruit sizing and packing equipment is the icing on the cake of a dream order for NZ-based Compac Sorting Equipment.

The new deal follows the successful installation of the company's biggest ever contract; to supply fruit sizing and packing equipment to US fruit packing giant Sun Pacific, covering a record-breaking half an acre.

That single order comprised 40 lanes of pre-grade blemish grading machinery around 60 metres long and 12 lanes of final grade sizer stretching out to 75 metres long, capable of processing 500 mandarins a second..

Compac's InVision 9000 blemish grading technology and packing machinery was selected for Sun Pacific's mammoth 10-acre citrus pack house in California because of its well-proven track record in blemish grading. The high performance levels attained by the equipment played a significant part in securing the second order for the company.

Compac's International Sales Director, Dave Buys says the original 2003 Sun Pacific order played a large part in Compac continuing to achieve its consistent 20% year on year growth.

"This latest deal is significant because it is the ultimate accolade for our NZ-developed technology," he says. "All of the work behind our ground-breaking camera and computer technology, which enables immediate identification of defects and colour inconsistencies, was done here by our design engineers.

"That we are now regarded as one of the world leaders in the market is a tremendous reflection on their innovation and skill."

In 1999 Compac technology made its debut in the California citrus market, providing a unique solution to sorting frost-damaged oranges. This has led to an explosive growth in sales for the NZ-developed technology, not only in grading and packing citrus crops but also for apples, stone fruit and other fruit and vegetable crops.

The company was established in 1984 to supply fruit grading equipment to the domestic kiwifruit industry. Since then, it has grown to become a supplier of leading edge technology to the fresh produce industry, exporting over 80% of its products as complete turnkey systems or specialist technology throughout Europe, USA, Australia and South America.

Compac built its business on an integrated R&D programme, which has included a colour sorting system used in developing value added packs for niche markets, and also an external defect grader which helps increase consistency and decrease labour costs.

ENDS

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