STiR coffee and tea magazine

14 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 6, 2017 (December / January) Q&A player in the market. We are at a good stage but we are not finished yet. We need to have the technology to satisfy the market. We need to penetrate the entire market without always using the same keys. These acquisitions help us do that. STiR: Single-serve capsule packaging is GIMA's the primary channel. What are your growth opportunities? Maldarelli: Single-serve is still covering 70% of our overall business. It's still leading, it's the place where we do our major investment. Paper pods remain a very interesting market, not big but it's still there. We have the technology and GIMA has always been recognized as a leader in this sense. The bags and all the rest? We are not there yet but we are coming. In our business, there is importance in secondary packaging – how we pack the capsule down the line. This has been an interesting development. Whenever we make a fill-up most of the time we also do the secondary packaging. We provide the full line – primary, secondary, and end of line. This is the strategy. If we look at our turnover, probably our primary packaging represents about 65-70% and the rest is the secondary packaging. That is a valuable slice of the business where our direct competitors most of the time are not there. STiR: You said Mapster's technology serves a smaller market. Can you briefly describe the difference in technology and how this serves GIMA's mission? Maldarelli: Yes, Mapster is a more open source platform. It's coming from a more traditional technology platform. We can provide an economic benefit for the customer. Everybody knows when we do packaging and that can be made through different means of technology. If we consider the GIMA core technology it can be a little more sophisticated electronically or more advanced technologically for both the machine and the customer. So, it requires people with more advanced technical skills and a deeper training. On the other side, there can be customers looking for entry-level and lower-speed solutions, or considering buying their first capsule machine, so we can now propose Mapster, that can be a little bit easier to handle with lower capital investment. This is a different level of technology and we believe this is the right tool especially when entering a less-developed coffee market where single-serve is coming but is not yet there. This is good technology that matches with a certain level of expecta- tions. The customer that buys Mapster tomorrow can be looking for a further investment [with GIMA] later. STiR: The IMA Group is invested in a variety of packaging markets such as cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and food processing. How does the technology in another IMA division apply to your coffee division? Maldarelli: Somebody looking from outside sees available technology in different segments. At the IMA Group, we are able to share technology, competence, and information. These are the key drivers. This really happens. A business manager like me interfaces with other business managers in order to generate this open source connection. This is a strength of being part of a group. Whenever there is a need for technology we don't look for investment unless first we look inside for an opportunity. When we see a very strong pharma positioning or a food positioning, we communicate. This exchange is always taking place. I manage profit and loss so my duty in the end is to come out with results. I cannot afford to develop everything. We know what we need, and we know what is available [within IMA]. This, for me, is a real strength. The advantage is that everybody is sharing a piece of the cake and the benefit is huge. STiR: With Petroncini, GIMA is entering a new segment of the coffee market – roasters. Why was this an important acquisition? Maldarelli: IMA traditionally is a company that produces packaging equipment. In some cases, IMA is, or in some cases was, in processing. In pharma, we are also combining part of the pharmaceutical processing because there is a tight combi- nation with the packaging. So, whenever there is an opportu- nity to combine a process, for us it is an opportunity. The target is to go once to the customer and explain what we can do. In this case, you multiply the opportunities. With coffee we see an opportunity. We knew Petroncini even before the acquisition took place. When we had a common customer, maybe a small customer or a newcomer who understood coffee opportunities, we worked together. This is how we want to position ourselves now in order to combine the two activities, processing and packaging. When you want to make an investment you first start with the process before you go to the packaging. From a business point of view, you want to jump in as soon as opportunities are available. I know we don't invest much in processing in other packaging divisions, but in this case, I see an opportunity to combine these organizations and penetrate the market. Technology wise, [roasting and packaging] are different things so everybody has his own know-how and competence but still we work together. GIMA c.e.o. Lorenzo Maldarelli

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