A U T O M AT I O N
NEW EQUITY DEAL ANNOUNCED FOR
INDUSTRY AUTOMATION SPECIALIST
An award-winning industry automation
specialist is set to significantly extend
its market reach thanks to a new
equity partnership with a horticultural
heavyweight.
www.foodtechnology.co.nz 33
Following recent collaboration
on a number of
projects, CR Automation
(CRA) has decided to
sell a 50% equity stake
to Jenkins Group – a key industry
player throughout Australasia’s
horticulture post-harvest industry.
With subsidiaries in New Zealand
and Australia (Tauranga-based
Jenkins Freshpac Systems Ltd and
NSW-based J-Tech Systems PTY),
Jenkins Group provides an extensive
range of labelling, packaging
and handling systems to the fruit
and vegetable industry across both
countries.
Hawke’s Bay-based CR Automation
provides automation, robotic and
post-harvest solutions to a broad
range of industries including food
and beverage, water and wastewater,
materials handling, cool
storage, meat and wool processing
and general manufacturing.
Managing director Peter Richards
says the 18-year-old tech company
has experienced exponential
growth over the past three years
and has been looking for an equity
partner who could help sustain that
growth and ensure longevity.
“We wanted a partner founded on
similar ideals who would add value
and provide market access beyond
our existing client base,” Richards
says. “Jenkins Group are an innovative,
family-owned company with
136 years of success behind them.
They are very client-focused and
trade with a high level of integrity
which is an excellent fit for us.”
Innovation is at the core of both
companies, and CRA won the
“Most Innovative Solution” award
for ABB robotics at the 2019 ASIA
Value Provider Conference.
Richards says he is immensely
proud of the engineering capacity
the CRA team has developed and
recent growth was primarily due to
a strategic initiative of developing
bespoke material handling and
machinery for a broad range of
industry players.
“Jenkins were very impressed
by CR Automation’s engineering
capacity and its diversity. They felt
some of our engineering services
and products would complement
the sectors that are core to them
including apples and kiwifruit, but
were very interested in CR Automation’s
specialisation in water and
wastewater, and machine and functional
safety as they recognise the
high demand for these services,”
he says.
“I’m excited to see our company’s
potential realised through this new
equity partnership with Jenkins
Group and we’re looking forward to
seeing what the future holds.”
Managing director of Jenkins
Group, Tony Sayle, says the
combination of skills, products and
services that the two organisations
can now provide across a wide
industry segment is “formidable”.
“The Internet of Things (IoT) and
automation are clear requirements
for our horticulture sector to excel
and thrive in a global economy and
soar through its ambitious target
of being a $10 billion industry by
2020,” Sayle says.
“This new partnership will provide
industry leading produce handling
capability to a post-harvest industry
screaming out for efficiencies and
solutions to its labour supply woes
and escalating compliance needs.
“CR Automation are a world class
developer and provider of automation
and control systems. Our
horticultural clients will certainly
benefit from their services and
products and together we intend to
lead the field across post-harvest
produce handling, FMCG production
automation and municipal
asset monitoring.”
Tony Sayle
Peter Richards
/www.foodtechnology.co.nz
