LEUVEN, BELGIUM - In a bid to better serve its customers in Latin America, TOMRA Food has opened new regional headquarters in Santiago, Chile. TOMRA, alongside its sister companies, Compac and BBC Technologies, now all have a strong presence in the region.

“TOMRA Food is growing in Latin America, as it is elsewhere in the world, and Chile is the perfect location for expanding our presence here,” remarked Michel Picandet, Executive Vice President of TOMRA Food. “The new regional headquarters put us closer to all our Latin American customers to ensure they receive the best resources, service, and support. This large facility hosts both Service and Sales personnel, affirming our commitment to the future in this region.”

The new headquarters adds to BBC Technologies’ presence in the region, which has been operating in Chillán for 10 years with more than 20 employees.

The new building accommodates offices, a meeting room, and a test and demonstration area that serves as a Customer Experience Center and Regional Training Hub.

“Opening our new regional headquarters is another step forward in providing local access to our global network of training, technical expertise, and services across the whole Latin American region, which exports a significant portion of the global trade in fresh produce,” stated Ken Moynihan, CEO of Compac, in a recent press release. “Fresh produce companies are looking to supply their customers 365 days per year, so they need to secure high-quality supply from the southern hemisphere. And to succeed in this high value market, exporters need the best packing lines, which is where we add value to their business.”

The headquarters’ spacious demonstration area makes it possible for potential customers to test machines with their own samples of produce.

Jacinto Trigo, Compac’s Latin America Regional Director, added, “Our sorting and grading technologies are so powerful because they can inspect the product externally and internally, that sometimes people have to see the results for themselves to believe them!”

The demonstration room in Santiago currently hosts five optical sorting machines: TOMRA 5A, TOMRA 5B, TOMRA 3C, TOMRA Nimbus BSI+, and Blizzard.

In the upcoming months, customers will also be able to test the Compac Single Lane Sorter with Spectrim, UltraView, and Inspectra inspection systems.

“We have already delivered many tests for customers on a wide variety of produce—fresh and IQF berries such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, IQF grapes, green beans, nuts, almonds, and seaweed—and on every occasion, customers have been impressed by the results,” commented Johan Germeys, Regional Sales Manager LATAM, TOMRA Food.

Thomas Molnar, Head of Global Sales at TOMRA Food, reported that, “A further benefit of the new headquarters is that people from all three of TOMRA’s food-related brands are now located in the same country, working more closely together and exchanging information and ideas. This is going to benefit customers by giving us an even better understanding of their operational challenges, ambitions, and agricultural trends in the region. This is important because Latin America is such a big source in the global supply chain, and still developing.”

TOMRA Food also has regional headquarters in the USA, China, and South Africa, global headquarters in Belgium, and 32 regional offices around the world.

Keep reading AndNowUKnow as we continue to chart the growth of global players like TOMRA.

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