Mandarins As Far As The 'Eye' Can See

Media Release

7 April 2003

MANDARINS AS FAR AS THE 'EYE' CAN SEE

Compac Sorting Equipment has just secured its biggest order ever, beating out large French, Dutch and American competitors, with the sale to the USA of more than half an acre of fruit sizing and packing equipment capable of processing 500 mandarins per second

The order, which is due for shipping in July, will play a significant part in contributing to Compac's consistent achievement of a 20% year on year growth.

Compac's InVision 9000 blemish grading technology and packing machinery was selected for Sun Pacific's mammoth new 10-acre citrus packhouse in California because of its well-proven track record in blemish grading.

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.

This single order comprises 40 lanes of pre-grade blemish grading machinery around 65 metres long and 12 lanes of final grade sizer that stretch out to 70 metres long.

Compac Sorting Equipment's Business Development Manager, David Buys, says although there is a tight delivery timescale, it is well within the company's capabilities. "We are always on the lookout for good engineering, design or technical staff though," he adds.

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 75% of its products as complete turnkey systems or specialist technology throughout Europe, USA, Australia and South America.

The company has 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. It was Compac's intensive R&D focus that led initially to ground-breaking camera and computer technology enabling immediate identification of defects and colour inconsistencies

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About Compac Sorting Equipment:

Manufacturers of high speed, accurate sorting systems for fruit and vegetables, Compac is a world leader in fruit sorting technology, through on-going commitment to research and development.

Visit Compac at www.compacsort.com

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