AUCKLAND: TOMRA today signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in BBC Technologies*. The deal sees BBC Technologies’ precision grading systems and innovative punnet and clamshell filling solutions for blueberries and other small fruits join TOMRA Food’s own fruit inspection and grading technology portfolio. TOMRA will also acquire www.freshtracker.com, innovative software which TOMRA foresees complementing its other developments in data and analytics solutions. Freshtracker™ enables traceability of the origins and characteristics of individual products from harvesting, processing and packaging, through to point-of-sale.
Based in Hamilton, New Zealand, BBC Technologies’ origins go back to 2000 when founder and local blueberry growers Greg and Alison Furniss invented a blueberry grader and sorter which was then sold to other growers. The company shares with TOMRA a deep dedication to enhancing grower’s abilities to deliver consistent, high quality berries to an ever more demanding consumer.
Mike Riley, Head of TOMRA Food says: “This acquisition further increases TOMRA’s leadership in grading, sorting, and packaging solutions for fresh, packaged, and processed foods. Following the recent, successful integration of Compac, we are investing more into small fruit and reduced footprint deployments. We are also making large-scale investments to create new value for customers by extracting and analysing data from TOMRA equipment, which is complemented by the Freshtracker platform. This is just one example of how combining the two companies will generate significant new value and transform the industry.
“With an ever-increasing consumer focus on superfoods such as blueberries, the addition of BBC Technologies to TOMRA’s portfolio allows us to better serve the needs of growers and packers. Combined with BBC Technologies, TOMRA now offers the world’s most complete small-fruit sorting and packaging portfolio for large to small pack-houses, and for the growing number of repack and fresh produce distribution centres worldwide.”
Geoff Furniss, Head of BBC Technologies says: “Joining TOMRA provides the perfect platform to further enhance our technology and service offerings in all corners of the globe. As a company built by growers for growers, we respect TOMRA’s market leadership, which has been achieved through innovation and partnership with customers, consistent with the principles that have fuelled our own growth at BBC Technologies.”
“Customers of both companies will see continued dedication to meet and exceed their needs, including new support and service capabilities in all regions globally, so customers are never far from deep expertise. Beyond this acquisition, TOMRA is making other new investments in people, services, and technology to help customers optimise every aspect of their operations,” says Mike Riley.
BBC Technologies will operate as a division of TOMRA Food. Geoff Furniss will continue to lead BBC Technologies, reporting to Mike Riley, Head of TOMRA Food. The immediate priority is to ensure customers see further increased levels of service and support offerings as BBC Technologies leverages the global network of offices and personnel TOMRA operates around the world.
*includes BBC Technologies USA.
www.tomra.com/food
About BBC Technologies
BBC Technologies is the global leader in complete turnkey solutions for sorting, optimising, and packing small fruit. BBC specialises in soft, delicate varieties in which their industry-leading technology preserves the natural characteristics of each piece of fruit. BBC Technologies designs, develops, manufactures and installs all of their own end-to-end turnkey lines, which include traceability and analytics software.
About TOMRA Food
TOMRA Food designs and manufactures sensor-based sorting machines and integrated post-harvest solutions for the food industry, using the world’s most advanced grading, sorting, peeling and analytical technology. Over 8,000 units are installed at food growers, packers and processors around the world for fruits, nuts, vegetables, potato products, grains and seeds, dried fruit, meat and seafood. The company’s mission is to enable its customers to improve returns, gain operational efficiencies, and ensure a safe food supply via smart, useable technologies. To achieve this, TOMRA Food operates centers of excellence, regional offices and manufacturing locations within the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia.
TOMRA Food is member of the TOMRA Group that was founded on an innovation in 1972 that began with design, manufacturing and sale of reverse vending machines (RVMs) for automated collection of used beverage containers. Today, TOMRA has ~95,700 installations in over 80 markets worldwide and had total revenues of ~7.4 billion NOK in 2017. The Group employs ~3,420 globally, and is publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: TOM). The TOMRA Group continues to innovate and provide cutting-edge solutions for optimal resource productivity within two main business areas: Collection Solutions (reverse vending and material recovery) and Sorting Solutions (recycling, mining and food sorting).
Source: TOMRA Food
