Jobs likely to be lost at Bay firm

A shift of production to Compac's new plants in Auckland and China could result in up to a dozen jobs being lost in Hastings.

Dozens of jobs are on the line at Compac Sorting Equipment's Hastings manufacturing plant as the company shifts production to its new plants in Auckland and China.

Formerly known as Fruit Handling Systems, the Hastings plant is a victim of success says Compac's VP Global People & Capability Siobhan Cohen.

"Because of our growth we are starting to look at our global optimisation strategy," she said.

The company was consulting staff on the planned closure of the manufacturing facility but intended to keep a strong Compac presence in the region, she said.

"Whilst we are looking at not producing products down there, we are still planning on investing further in our service and sales functions."

She refused to say how many people worked at the Barnes Place site in Omahu or how many jobs would be lost, but Hawke's Bay Today understands 50 to 60 people worked at the plant.

She said Compac was still consulting Hastings staff and she would not say when a final decision on the number of job losses would be made.

Compac took a 50 per cent stake in Hastings' Fruit Handling Systems in 2008 and 100 per cent in 2014.

Compac was founded in 1984 by the son of a kiwifruit orchardist saw a need for fast and accurate sorting equipment.

Today Compac employs 700 people globally and provides turnkey packhouse equipment in more than 40 countries for a variety of produce.

Compac established its United States reputation in 1999 when one of its sorting machines helped salvage frost-damaged oranges when local technology was not accurate enough to assess which fruit was damaged internally.

Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce CEO Wayne Walford said he was "gutted" by the news of the closure but it was against a rising tide of regional economic growth.

"I would be interested to know why we can't keep it here but at the end of the day it is probably because of the cost of labour," he said.