The leading Tuscan SME ALTOPACK, a manufacturer designing automatic packaging systems, has exported state-of-the-art packaging machinery for long and short goods pasta to Angola.
Support to export pasta packaging machinery systems
The SACE Group contributed with an integrated offer to cover the production and credit risks of the contract for 650 thousand euros, funding credits issued by the foreign buyer thanks to SACE FCT, a SACE Group company specialized in supporting liquidity and business cash flow management. ALTOPACK has also benefited from the Export Grant on Supplier Credit by SIMEST, a totally free non-repayable grant obtained through the resources of the Public Fund 295/73, controlled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. This allowed to fully recover the charges of the SACE FCT discount.
The contract was signed by ALTOPACK with Webcor, a Swiss group that has a subsidiary in Angola, active in the trade and distribution of agricultural products and the so-called Fast-Moving Consumer Goods such as sugar, pasta, rice, flour and frozen foods. The agreement with Altopack was set up to increase the overall efficiency of the plant dedicated to the packaging of pasta and to make production more flexible and faster. This is an integrated offer of the SACE Group and SIMEST in total support of ALTOPACK. A team work that has allowed the Tuscan SME to get an insurance coverage and export safely, discount the credits, immediately after shipping the goods with SACE FCT and obtain a non-repayable grant from SIMEST which has eliminated the cost of the disinvestment of the promissory notes issued by the foreign buyer.
The packaging machines: for short and long pasta
Specifically, Altopack has supplied machines serving two distinct lines:
- one dedicated to the packaging of short pasta;
- the other dedicated to the packaging of long pasta.
The first is a multi-format line and includes two vertical packaging machines Altopack AVE-PC Linear Motion. The second line, which is also multi-format, includes three Altopack AP 120 weighers and three Altopack AOD PL horizontal flowpack packaging machines. These packaging machines for short and long pasta can reach a speed of 120 bags/minute, depending on the format.
The quantity of pasta produced by the plant is even more significant: thanks to the integration of Altopack’s machines, the two lines can pack up to 4,000 kg of pasta per hour.
The project was successfully launched, also thanks to the contribution of the partner companies, and the installation of the systems is scheduled in autumn with start-up and commissioning by the end of the year.
The support to SMEs on foreign markets
“We always support SMEs. In this case, we had the opportunity to support ALTOPACK, a successful Tuscan business with a strong focus on export, to support their growth plans and support them on foreign markets – said Maria Luisa Miccolis, Head of SMEs at SACE – This operation confirms our commitment on the territory to support a strategic supply chain such as the agri-food sector and the strong synergy and teamwork within the Group with SACE FCT and also SIMEST “.
According to Giuseppe Vezzani, Founder and Managing Director of ALTOPACK, “what unites ALTOPACK and SACE is a long tradition of collaboration and dynamism, thanks to which Italian technology and its excellences – such as packaging machines – can reach geographic areas that might appear more difficult to manage. A winning strategy of the Country System that satisfies foreign customers, who get the opportunity to access the state of the art in the sector, as well as manufacturers, who can reach a wider market. More generally, all the related industries benefit from it”. He then added: “It is with this spirit that we’re already working on a new project of another customer, still based in Africa, who already obtained the same SACE support ten years ago”.
“We are pleased to have supported a company like ALTOPACK, helping to improve its competitiveness on international markets. The availability of the SIMEST Export Contribution, which minimizes and sometimes, as in this ALTOPACK operation, eliminates the financial cost of the discount, is one of the most effective responses of the Italian system in support of exports of SMEs, – highlighted Giancarlo Parente, Head of Trade Export Finance at SIMEST. “We hope that the operating scheme that saw SIMEST actively cooperate with SACE and SACE FCT will also constitute a useful commercial tool in the future for the further strengthening of the international presence of our small and medium-sized companies“.
Info about ALTOPACK
ALTOPACK is a Tuscan SME founded in 1999, with headquarters in Altopascio, Tuscany. Today it is one of the most high-tech and innovative Italian companies in the design and manufacturing of automatic packaging systems (packaging machines, case packers, shrink wrappers, etc.). Altopack is known for its relevant experience in grain-based food (rice, pasta, cous-cous, flour, cereals, bread, crackers and other snacks) and offers solutions for many other sectors (sugar, coffee, legumes, pet food, confectionery, dried fruits) and in the non-food sector. In 2018, Altopack opened a branch in Borgo Panigale, near Bologna, in the heart of the so called Italian Packaging Valley. In 2019, Altopack also acquired Gammapack, extending its offer to the box carton packaging sector. In 2021 the group further expanded with the launch of Cyborg Line, dedicated to the development of humanoid robots with applications in the packaging sector. Today, with a turnover of 20 million euros, 40 international patents and trademarks, more than 40 employees, over 2400 machines installed all over the world and 150 customers in over 50 countries, the ALTOPACK group represents a solid reality, in rapid growth, attentive to eco-friendliness and positioned on the frontier of Advanced Manufacturing Solutions. Its export share is 61% and is mainly concentrated in Asia and Africa.
