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TOMRA continues expansion in global food sorting solutions sector with acquisition of BBC Technologies
FJ | TOMRA Food
TOMRA signed an agreement to acquire 100% 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.”
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.
In addition to successful acquisition we congratulate TOMRA with winning the Silver Medal at the International FoodTech Award 2018, organised by the DLG (German Agricultural Society). TOMRA ACT, the awarded solution, is at the core of TOMRA’s latest generation of food sorters. TOMRA ACT is designed to make sorting adjustments simple and predictable for the user or operator, enabling optimised control. This is achieved by changing the way the defect and product features are setup. Each user can define their own sorting criteria and apply customised naming conventions based on these criteria.
For Contact:
Marissa Girolamo
Senior Account Executive
marissa.girolamo@porternovelli.com
+1 310-754-4123
Marijke Bellemans
Senior Marketing Coordinator Communication
TOMRA Sorting NV
+32 16 742 817 ext. 217
