TIN Member Spotlight: TOMRA Fresh Food

TOMRA Fresh Food, a business area of TOMRA, is the new name for the New Zealand-based company created through the 2020 unification of produce sorting companies Compac Sorting Equipment and BBC Technologies, which were acquired by Norwegian company TOMRA in 2016 and 2018 respectively. FY21 is the first reporting period for the new company, and the combined revenues of the previous two companies, takes the new company straight into the EY Ten Companies to Watch list with $214m in growth, or 25.4% on the previous year’s revenue.

CEO of the former BBC Technologies, Geoff Furniss, is now head of the unified company, and “brings with him a determination to continue pushing the limitations of agritech innovation and further extend the TOMRA Fresh Food offering.” What’s clear from this first set of results is that the new company is already successfully continuing the smart, innovative research and product development efforts of the previous two companies, and creating greater efficiencies and ultimately, better returns.

“The success of TOMRA Fresh Food includes a fully aligned development team delivering highly valued products to the industry in the categories we serve. This includes utilizing the skillsets and expertise across the entire TOMRA Fresh team to get closer to our customers through aligned service and sales offerings.”

2021 was the first reporting year for TOMRA Fresh Food and the results were fantastic. With extensive experience merging Compac Sorting Equipment and BBC Technologies and the acquisition by TOMRA what are your ‘top tips’ for a successful M&A deal?

Focusing on people and culture is paramount during a merger and it is important for the teams to get to know one another personally. Understanding how each team member contributes to the business makes the more complicated issues easier to navigate.

Additionally, having a clear vision that the leadership team is aligned on and building a future path that is strategically aligned with the business objectives is vital in ensuring a successful merger.

Unifying two companies that then are acquired is not a simple task. What were the most successful strategies to ensure a smooth merger between the two companies and then acquisition? What learning has the new company been able to take from each of its previous separate parts?

By taking the time to learn how the two businesses operate independently, we have developed new ways to ensure that we continue to achieve critical learning.

What are your key business priorities for the second year of TOMRA Fresh Food?

As part of our priorities, we continue to drive key initiatives within TOMRA Fresh Food to ensure that our projects are scalable, repeatable, and aligned.

Research and development has played a major role in both, BBC Technologies and Compac – what are the key trends in produce sorting technologies moving forward and how will TOMRA leverage them for innovation?

TOMRA continues to develop high-value integrated solutions, with all components designed to work together, providing our customers with improved efficiency and productivity. There is a particular focus on delivering dynamic optical sensing and AI technology solutions to improve sorting and grading accuracy and performance.

Click here to learn more about TOMRA Fresh Food.