TOMRA Sorting Food has announced a positive six-month trading period since the start of 2017, thanks to the successful launch of three sorting platforms, new senior management appointments and the implementation of an enhanced customer support service.
Revenues for the second quarter of 2017 increased over the same period last year, and TOMRA Sorting Food’s order intake was reportedly up quarter over quarter.
Launches of the TOMRA 5A and 5B platforms at the end of 2016 generated positive order momentum during the first half of 2017, and earlier this year the TOMRA 3C was introduced.
New senior management appointments in customer service, both globally and regionally, have been supported with the recruitment of additional customer service personnel. This has further enhanced speed of response and overall effectiveness.
TOMRA’s Ashley Hunter (left) and Thomas Molnar are pleased with the company’s climbing sales results.Commenting on the half-year performance, Ashley Hunter, senior vice president and head of Leuven, Belgium-based TOMRA Sorting Food, said: “We are pleased to have maintained our positive momentum. The fundamental reason for our success is our absolute dedication to delivering trusted technology and partnership for better business and environment. This allows us to form highly effective relationships with our customers, clearly understand their needs and work with them to develop and grow their businesses.”
It is this approach that led to development of the TOMRA 5A, which builds on the successes of the Halo and the TOMRA 5B, which followed the Genius model’s reputation for performance and reliability with additional functionality. Both have been well received. The TOMRA 3C, which debuted in China to serve producers of grains and seeds, has also proven popular.
Major trends influencing TOMRA’s performance in emerging and development markets include the expansion of middle class consumer sectors, which are forecast to increase in population to over 3.2 billion by 2020. Similarly, the move towards urbanization in China, Southeast Asia and India is creating opportunities for providing automation to replace a shrinking rural labor pool as people increasingly relocate to cities.
“The developed world is being influenced by the growing demand of the increasing middle classes, especially in relation to exporting to developing countries, as well as sourcing raw food materials from them,” said Hunter. “This coincides with the need for brand protection and traceability for all food processors.”
TOMRA Sorting Food’s ongoing positive momentum has been underpinned by successful sales and marketing strategies, which have seen the company continually reinforce its position as an innovator within markets it serves.
“We are able to provide our customers with competitive advantage by constantly seeking to address the opportunities and challenges they face with the best application of our technologies, and the research and development of new ones,” said Thomas Molnar, the company’s global sales and marketing communications director. “This approach leads us to invest in key world regions. In the short-term we are strengthening, sustaining and growing in Western Europe and North America, while in the short- to medium-term we are also seeking to develop in fast-growing markets in Eastern Europe, South America, China and Asia.”
TOMRA Sorting Food anticipates further demand for the company’s technologies being driven by food industry requirements to increase yields and maximize profits by enhancing the performance of existing production lines. This is particularly the case in the frozen vegetable and potato processing sectors, where steam peelers are offered as well as optical sorting equipment to help boost output efficiency.
