Compac announces new executive team and growth strategy

December 11 2015
Compac announces new executive team and growth strategy to capture global opportunity in post-harvest fresh produce industry

Auckland, New Zealand December 11 2015 Compac, a provider of post-harvest integrated solutions to the fresh produce industry, announced its new executive leadership team. The team will lead the company in the next phase of its transformative growth and execute on its strategy for capturing the expanding global opportunities in the fresh produce industry.

Building on its 30-year heritage of innovation in partnership with its customers, Compac enables some of the world’s most recognized fresh produce brands, including Sunkist®, Halos™, Mr. Apple and Zespri® Kiwifruit to deliver consistently high-quality produce to consumers. Its solutions allow customers to accurately grade and pack fresh produce at high volume, ensure quality, safety and traceability, and improve operational efficiency and margins.

Compac CEO Mike Riley said the new executive leadership team has been selected for its skills and proven experience in developing and leading high-performance teams and partnerships, raising growth capital and navigating the challenges of high-growth, innovation-led organisations operating in rapidly changing global markets.

“Compac’s team is a strategic balance of those with direct experience of Compac’s business and those from sectors which have undergone seismic shifts similar to the ones we are seeing in the post-harvest segment of the fresh produce industry,” Mr. Riley said.

Compac is focused on growing its extensive installed global customer base and developing a complete, integrated post-harvest solution. This will encompass world-class services, training, technology and best-of-breed equipment to meet all of its customers’ evolving post-harvest needs, allowing them to drive the highest return for their business.

“Reliability, automation and traceability across multiple sites and the ability to extract timely, actionable business intelligence from produce data are increasingly critical for our customers to meet the exacting standards of presentation, product quality, safety and provenance now required by retailers and consumers,” Riley added.

Compac Founder and majority shareholder, Hamish Kennedy, commented: "Compac has come a long way since we started in a garage over 30 years ago, we are now well positioned to take advantage of the vast global opportunities in front of us. I am very impressed with the executive leadership team Mike has brought together and their vision for the future, I look forward to working with him and our board of directors in this next phase of transformative growth."

Compac’s new executive leadership team comprises:

Chief Executive Officer, Mike Riley. Mike joined Compac in 2014 and brings more than 25 years of experience in leadership, product management, and sales and marketing, from listed and private high tech manufacturers in the UK, USA and New Zealand. Previously Mike was CEO of London Stock Exchange-listed Endace Ltd., where he drove 35% CAGR growth over 6 years culminating in its acquisition by NYSE-listed Emulex Corporation.

Chief Financial Officer, Kate Parsons. Kate was previously the Chief Financial Officer for technology company PowerbyProxi and Group CFO for Endace. She managed Endace’s relationships with the public equity markets, as well as steering the company through its eventual acquisition by Emulex Corporation in 2013. Before returning to New Zealand from Canada and the United Kingdom, Kate worked in the banking and finance sector with Barclays and PwC.

VP Strategy and Corporate Development, Kim Bui. Based in Southern California Kim is responsible for the development and implementation of long-range strategic plans for the company. Kim has extensive experience with mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and both public and private equities markets. He also brings 5 years of experience as a management consultant for AT Kearney and KPMG. Kim was previously the head of Corporate Development with Emulex Corporation and joined Compac in April 2015.

VP Global People & Capability, Siobhan Cohen. Siobhan joined Compac in May 2015 and has previously held senior human resources roles in organisations with employees located in multiple international locations and undergoing significant growth and changes. Her most recent roles included Sealord Group and Fonterra, New Zealand’s largest agribusiness company and a major player in the global dairy trade. Siobhan has a deep understanding and experience of developing the systems and processes needed to attract, retain, manage and motivate high-performance global teams.

VP Marketing and Product, Perry Sansom. Prior to joining Compac in 2015 Perry was a senior executive at WhereScape, a global leader in the provision of automated big data solutions and business intelligence platforms. He brings to Compac his experience running WhereScape’s operations in the Asia Pacific region, the establishment of the company’s global partner program and a deep understanding of global networks and world class service organisations.

VP Global Operations, Chris Komatas. Chris has a background in supply chain, product marketing and operational management. Chris has previously held senior positions at Juniper Equipment, based in Silicon Valley and with Ericsson in the United Kingdom. He manages Compac’s global manufacturing, project management and after-sales service capabilities, ensuring that customers receive their solutions on time and within specification. Chris joined Compac in February 2015 and was most recently VP Global Operations at Endace Ltd.

VP Engineering, Paul Farrow, PhD. Paul spent the early part of his career pioneering the transition from electro-mechanical to computer-controlled systems. He worked on early Internet technology and also the transition from circuit-switched to packet-switched technology creating the mobile Internet (3G) at Nokia. More recently Paul was part of the Skype turnaround team that implemented company-wide Agile and Continuous Delivery at Scale. His ability to develop leading edge technology from concept to market will build on and strengthen Compac’s technology leadership position in the post-harvest industry.

Chief Technology Officer, Ken Moynihan. Ken joined Compac in 2004 and was previously responsible for leading the development of the company’s leading-edge optical inspection systems. Ken relocated to Seattle in 2014 to be closer to the company’s key customers in the region and is now responsible for the company’s long-term technology strategy. He works with business and technology partners as well as lead clients to identify their requirements and develop a strategic vision of what future post-harvest facilities look like.

-Ends

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