b'PARTNER CONTENTWHY THE SEED INDUSTRY MUST THINK OF ITSELF AS A FOOD PRODUCERREBRANDING OUR BUSINESS HAS BEEN A LESSON IN WHY SUCCESS LIES IN NOT JUSTPROCESSING, BUT EVERYTHING THAT COMES AFTER IT.BY: KALOYAN RADULOV, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, ELICA PROCESSINGI ts never an easy decision to rebrand. Deciding to transform ourselves from Elica Elevator to Elica Processing represents a whole new way of looking at our business, but its important if we are to fit into the modern food economy that feeds and the world and powers the seed business. Let me back up for a moment. For the past 10 years, our Bulgaria-based company has expanded beyond its original mandate of being a seed process-ing company. Back in the early 1990s, we used many different brands of processing equipment to do our job of processing seed and grain. As time went on, we became experts in the processing tech-nology itself, building our own brand of processing equipment. Weve developed our own know-how and our own processing technologies for seed processing, sunflower dehulling and pulse processing. Our engineering team has also developed weigh-ing and scaling systems. ELICA has grown beyond our wildest dreams to become a lot more than we started as.That brings me back to our rebranding. Bulgaria is the first country in the world to mechanize the dehulling of sunflower for food use. We knew if we were going to play in the food sphere, we needed to distinguish between our seed processing and food processing capabilities, as the food industry has many unique requirements than separate it from the seed sector. Two exam- Kaloyan Radulov, Business Development Manager.ples are purity and high output for food grade oil. We saw immense opportunity in catering to the needs of the food sector. Our processing know-how goes well beyond sun- The future of food is boundless. Our industry must think flower and into peanuts, peas and oats. What a great opportunityoutside of our borders if we are to thrive, and food is a major to help our business grow and to help our clients, many of whomanswer to doing so. Outside of Europe, the world population is are farmers and cater to farmers.growing. Many of those people comprise the middle class, and Sunflower kernel, for example, is a value-added product, butfor them, eating healthy is paramount. By adding high protein farmers often dont have enough information about the marketadditives like sunflower and oatmeal, they are consuming the in order to produce the product and sell it effectively.very products we help clients process.ELICA has a long history in seed processing, but our knowl- Because of this, demand for our machines will grow rap-edge of the food industry gives us direct insight into the foodidly, and Bulgaria will continue to be a world leader in export market and what directions the trends are moving in.of sunflower kernel.This means that we are not purely a machine building andWith our recent acquisition of an Italian equipment com-processing companywe are a full-service provider that helpspany, the gates to Western Europe are open to us. The focus in people manage their value-added product from processing rightSouth America is building and installing complete lines. We plan to finding a market for it. We dont simply process their seed/grainto establish a satellite office there to really show off the capa-and then leave it up to them to figure out what to do with it bilities if this equipment to the Western Hemisphere. Further were with them every step of the way to not only produce a cleanstrengthening our presence in Eastern Europe is a priority as product, but to be able to play in the food sphere and becomewell. We are considering basing a subsidiary in Russia as soon more than just farmers but actual food ingredient suppliers. as the COVID-19 regulations soften the travelling.This holistic approach only bolsters client trust. After build- If you want to know how to grow your business, think food. ing one processing line with us, many are doing a second, a thirdSeed and food are inextricably linked; we cannot have one with-and a fourth project with us because they can capture a returnout the other. We thought this way, and it changed how we think their investment very fast with our machines and our advice.about our own business. Thats why we have redefined it.Like us, they want to grow even more.For more info visit elica-pro.com. EUROPEAN-SEED.COMIEUROPEAN SEED I 53'