Partner deal opens American gateway for SAS

UK-based Spice Application Systems (SAS) has signed an exclusive trading partner deal with Canadian company ARBO Engineering.

The move is expected to open up major new opportunities for SAS to increase sales of its specialist electrostatic systems within the food manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors throughout North, South and Central America.

Headquartered in Toronto, ARBO has a 20-year track record in designing and manufacturing equipment, such as screw feeders and vibratory trays for a wide range of applications in the food processing sector.

The partnership will see SAS’s electrostatic spray heads retrofitted onto ARBO’s existing equipment and built into new units, enabling American food manufacturers to fully harness the power of electrostatics for the first time.

SAS managing director, Peter King, said: “This is a tremendous step forward for SAS. Succeeding in the Americas is all about having the right partner in place and with ARBO we are confident that our electrostatic equipment will quickly make a major impact in the market and mirror the success story of electrostatics in Europe.

“We know that electrostatics works and we’re thrilled with the response from the ARBO engineers who share our enthusiasm and determination to show customers what a difference introducing this equipment can make to their bottom line.”

A meeting at Anuga FoodTec in Germany in March sparked initial discussions between the two companies and since then ARBO has been carrying out highly-successful tests on SAS’s equipment at its laboratory.

ARBO managing director, Shlomo Gicza, said: “Manufacturers have been looking for something like this for years, there is huge powder wastage at present and this is the surest way for companies to save money with a system which is safe, easy to use and easy to understand.

“The market has been craving for a system like this and the initial response from customers has been absolutely phenomenal. With 19 years in business I haven’t seen a reaction like it, which makes it an incredibly exciting time and we anticipate signing our first customer deal very shortly. We expect this to be the first of many as we believe there are huge opportunities to achieve maximum impact with electrostatics in the market.”

Gicza believes the snacks sector, including potato chips, and dry pet food will be among the biggest prime users of electrostatics, but also hopes to expand into other food arenas.

Electrostatic technology enables major cost savings to be achieved through greatly reduced powder wastage, improved energy efficiency, better quality products and a cleaner working environment with less dust.

The technique works by applying a static charge to powders, oils or slurry as they are sprayed onto a base product, such as snacks. As the coating becomes ‘negatively’ charged, it sticks automatically to the ‘positive’ base product, creating a true wraparound effect.

A team of engineers from ARBO will visit SAS’s Oxfordshire base in June to undertake product training and see progress on the latest new developments.

With a network of distributors throughout North America, including California, Michigan, Oklahoma and Kansas, ARBO also has representatives in Brazil and New Mexico, providing access across South America.