If you’ve ever attended Scanpack, you’ve no doubt seen Nemco, a Danish company that has participated as exhibitors since 2006. The company is one of the leading Nordic actors in solutions for processing equipment and packaging for the food industry. This year, they are returning to Scanpack, which they say is a high-quality trade fair that generates numerous leads and facilitates meetings with entirely new companies. We greeted them in Bröndby outside Copenhagen, where their headquarters are located.

Text: Bo Wallteg
Photo: Bo Wallteg and Nemco
In the picture: Peo Blomqvist and Tanja Luplau outside headquarters in Bröndby, just outside Copenhagen.

Nemco dates back to the mid-1960s and has for years been family owned. The company was established in 1966, two years after the first Scanpack trade fair. From the very beginning, the company’s business operations have been based on sales agency agreements.

It was therefore natural for them to focus on food products, an industry where Denmark has always been a leading nation. Danish Crown and Arla are two excellent examples. Nemco is an acronym for the Northern European Machinery Company. Initially, company ownership was shared between a Dutch family and Nils Lynge in Denmark. Today, Nemco is owned by Lars Olsgaard who was employed by the company in the mid-90s and became its third generation owner.

In 1968, Nemco obtained an agency agreement with the German company VEMAG Maschinenbau, which manufactures processing equipment and plants for the bakery and confectionery industry.

This was the start of a long-term partnership that has continued to this day. The agency agreement with VEMAG is Nemco’s largest. The company now has agency agreements with close to twenty-five different companies, the largest being SEALPAC, Poly-clip System and PFM Packaging Machinery.

Over the years, new agency agreements have been established, and Nemco has gradually become the country’s largest private actor in processing and packaging for the food industry. The agency agreements cover large areas of the food industry. Nemco is a company that initially started in one defined segment but gradually developed and expanded to include new agency agreements.

Established in Sweden

At Bröndby headquarters, I meet with Peo Blomqvist, head of Nemco AB in Sweden, and marketing manager Tanja Luplau. Peo Blomqvist met Lars Olsgaard in the 90s, and they worked together over time to ensure that Nemco AB would become a reality in 2000. One contributing factor was that VEMAG wanted a better foothold in the Nordic region, as several larger manufacturers had business operations in different countries and needed a supplier.

– “As the demands on the agent increased, it became essential to establish a fully Swedish organisation with Swedish service and support for Nemco, and we have continued to develop this over the years. It is actually the backbone of our business activities today,” says Peo.

– “Although our headquarters are in Sweden, it is also important for us to have a Swedish staff in Bröndby. This is essential, so that we can offer our services and at the same time avoid the risk of linguistic misunderstandings.”

What initially helped and supported Nemco in the early 2000s was the fact that cuts of meat and mince were moved from stores to more industrial and controlled environments in specialised factories, commonly referred to as consumer packaged meat.
– “One of our first clients was Pärsons in Helsingborg, which did the packaging for some of the ICA supermarkets before ICA built its own packaging plant in Västerås,” says Peo.

– “At the time, almost all meat was packed in shrink wrap. Then trays with sealed lids became more popular. We linked with the German company Sealpac, and through several other agency agreements, we presented a strategy that we called ‘Portion to pack’. The next step of the development was convenience food with ready meals and salads, as well as a complete line of various pre-packaged meals.”

Simple solutions are important

In Sweden, Nemco currently has eleven employees, including five technicians. In total, Nemco has sixty employees and is a significant supplier of processing and packaging technology for food industry.

– “We have a very broad range of offerings, which is a distinct advantage today. Clients prefer to have as few suppliers as possible. They can, for instance, send raw goods from one end of the line and receive them fully packaged on the other end, without having to involve multiple suppliers.

– It is also important for us to offer simple technological solutions,” says Peo Blomqvist. “It has become increasingly difficult to find experienced staff, so the process can’t become too complicated.

– Training at the client companies is essential, not only for us but for both parties, as this ensures a smoother start-up and a more self-sufficient client.

– Nemco can also take steps outside the client. If a smaller client has no technician or electrician, a local person can be trained to step in if something goes wrong.’

– There shouldn’t be any problems with interrupted operations due to a lack of competence at or near the client company.

Far more advanced

Developments in the area of machinery is strong, and the assembly lines being created are becoming increasingly advanced and “self-operating”. Automation is the key word and clients want to have more control over the process. It helps to have as few suppliers as possible, and to be able to keep the costs of producing products as low as possible. The food industry is under pressure.

Earnings usually come from the final part of the chain, e.g. the stores, and if you produce your own brands (OBL – own brand labelling) for the larger chains, the margins are usually lower.

– The machine industry today has changed a great deal compared to twenty years ago,” says Peo Blomqvist. “At that time you simply sold a machine. Now there are a lot of other things involved as well. This is challenging both for us as sellers and for our clients.”
Peo believes that certain segments of the food industry have become tougher than others.

The charcuterie industry, for instance, is somewhat saturated at the moment. There are many producers but red meat consumption has decreased, while white meat/poultry appears to be a growing segment where consumption has increased. Vegetarianism has become less popular after the hype a few years ago, he says.

Packaging

Although processing and technology is a large part of Nemco’s business, packaging is playing an increasingly larger role, as clients in certain cases actually purchase a pre-packaged product.

As with machinery, this part of the business is based on agency agreements, such as the one with the German company Sealpac, which has come far in lid seals for fresh food products. In Sweden, we have chosen not to sell packaging solutions separately. Denmark, however, has since 1975 had Nemco Packaging, which has always been strong, especially with respect to plastic wrapping. In Denmark, we are distributors for the Finnish company Wipak.

– Scanpack is a packaging fair, so naturally we will have our entire packaging team at our exhibition stand.

Highly interesting trade fair

Those with good memories who attended the last Scanpack know that Nemco set up their exhibition in the centre of B-hall. “We’ll be there this year too,” says Tanja Luplau.

– “Scanpack is a trade fair of major interest to us. We know that the quality of visitors will be high, and the quality of exhibitors will be equally exceptional. And the fair is held at the perfect of year.

– Naturally, we’ll have some packaging machines in place, as well as some processing equipment. Some new innovations will be there, and as usual we’ll have refrigerated counters with filled packaging samples, something most visitors appreciate. We’ll also have a cook, so we can offer lunch,” says Tanja.

New clients and leads

According to Tanja Luplau, Scanpack is a trade fair that generates a large number of leads, which is incredibly helpful for creating contacts.

– “We get many clients we weren’t aware of before, almost more than we can count, which is a positive thing. Recently, we made a business deal with a company that packages mushrooms, and another company that produces pizza.

– Meeting new potential clients is exciting, but of course it’s both important and enjoyable to get together with our existing clients. We’re looking forward to Scanpack.

Nemcos Swedish sales team will be present at booth B03:22 at Scanpack. Yanina Steneram, Technical Sales Specialist (Packaging), Peo Blomqvist, Country Manager, and Sandra Gabriel, Product Manager.

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