The year 2018 has been full of success for Farmet, whether in regard to the new products introduced to the market, increased production capacity, or the reinforcement of our position in the current and new countries.
From this point of view, the greatest news of 2018 is the introduction of our Company to the very interesting market of New Zealand. Agriculture in New Zealand is at a very high level and represents about a half of the GDP of the country. From the European point of view, it is very unique considering the subsidies. New Zealand is one of the few countries where agriculture is not subsidised by the state and thus it is exposed to the effects of market economy. That brings the continuous efforts of the local farmers to introduce new technologies and innovative methods of farming, to preserve their global competitiveness.
Therefore, it is not a surprise that we have had several requests for delivering our machines to this Pacific island. However, it was very complicated to meet such individual requirements of local farmers with regard to the distance and complicated transportation.
The Farmet management has decided to find a strong and stable partner in New Zealand, with whom the Company could start business cooperation. We succeeded at the beginning of 2018 when we started working with JJ Ltd., a company with 60 years of experience in the field of sale and service of agricultural technology.
At the end of March, the first machines from our portfolio were ordered. The machines were prepared for transportation at the end of June and the requirement of transport in ship containers had to be met. Our experience with shipping machines to North America became very handy. After the machines left the production plant in Česká Skalice, they made their first stop in Hamburg, Germany.
There, the machines were moved to the MSC Oscar freighter. We should mention that this ship is one of the largest container ships in the world with its size of four football pitches: its capacity is unbelievable 19,224 TEU (6.1m containers) and its power comes to the respectable 83,800hp. After about two months, the machines made it to a New Zealand harbour where they were transferred and transported to the dealer.
The assembly and testing of the machines followed. The first machines were tested in the fields by anticipating New Zealand farmers in mid-October when the demo tour across the south island started. We were very pleased to learn that the first customer who saw our time-tested Kompaktomat K 600 PS at work purchased the machine. According to his words, it is one of the best machines for spring soil cultivation. At present, there are ongoing demonstrations, exhibitions and displays of our machines on this evergreen island, which we will inform you of regularly.
Jan Schovánek
Sales Coordinator in New Zealand
