Raytec Vision has focused on sorting and inspection machines for the food sector for 15 years now. The company was founded in 2001. Since then, it has constantly seized market opportunities.
“Looking at change and challenges as opportunities has always been our philosophy,” explains Managing Director Raffaele Pezzoli. “We built up Raytec from scratch to focus on food quality control. We are located in Parma, a region where food is deeply rooted in the local culture. For this reason, it was not really surprising that we shifted our focus towards the food processing sector. We differentiate between different food sectors: fresh food, frozen products, processed food and dried food such as coffee, almonds and rice. In Europe, they are all relocated: Here in Parma, we are right in the heart of a fruit valley with an abundance of fresh fruit. This simply makes the difference.”
Raytec’s location is not the only difference. The company specializes in two technologies instead of one. “We combine quality control and food safety – two processes that are usually separate,” states Mr. Pezzoli. “This is unique in the market. You will hardly find another company providing solutions for both sorting and inspecting. We are able to do so because we have employees who are passionate about their jobs. Our teams transform dreams into ideas and products with a long-term impact.”
Thanks to this passion, Raytec has always been at the forefront of the market. The company started working with LED lights at a very early stage. “While competitors were working with lasers, we preferred LEDs for numerous reasons,” says Mr. Pezzoli. “15 years ago, nobody could really understand this approach. It was a very unconventional decision but, at the end of the day, the right one.”
Raytec benefits from committed employees, advanced technologies, unconventional decisions and its strict horizontal structure. “We put great emphasis on small details as we believe that they can make the biggest difference,” explains Mr. Pezzoli. “Our machines mirror this approach. Reliable quality control is what we focus on. This is even backed up by our logo. Yellow represents creativity while red stands for passion. The company’s name is written in black, symbolizing integrity.”
Quality and food safety are the focus of Raytec’s sorting and inspection machines. They excel across eight sectors: tomatoes, frozen vegetables, frozen fruit, snacks and dried products, preserved vegetables, preserved fruit, freshcut lettuce, and X-ray. Innovative technology results in advanced machines such as Raybox Belt, an X-ray machine that can reject foreign bodies such as metal and glass, or Raynbow, an optical sorting machine for checking the quality of fruit and vegetables.
One of the latest product innovations is Dryce, a revolutionary machine for dried and frozen products. “In general, our machines work with sensors or cameras to check the quality of a product,” sums up Mr. Pezzoli. “Fruits should be ripe but not overripe. Tomato pulp needs to be red and not white. Recently, we even introduced machines for frozen products. To provide those advanced solutions meeting the most challenging demands, we put great emphasis on research and development. Everything at Raytec is basically about innovation. For us, it is an integral part of our daily work.”
Raytec’s concept is widely recognized. This year, the company won the prestigious Pininfarina Award for being one of Italy’s leading companies in the areas of growth, innovation and development. Due to its ongoing dynamic development, Raytec has 42 employees.
Revenues have increased steadily over the years to reach 20 million EUR. 80% of its products are exported all over the world from Spain, Germany and Great Britain to California, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. The company is present in 32 countries around the world and considers itself an open-minded player.
“We are Italians, but we speak eight different languages,” stresses Mr. Pezzoli. “We established 18 service centers spread all over the world to provide decent multilingual support. However, the most important thing is to speak the language of our customers.”
Raytec will continue introducing innovative machines to enhance the quality of fruit and vegetables. For this reason, the company set up Gemini, a company that concentrates on lettuce harvesting, and is a joint venture partner of Raynext, a project that works with innovative X-ray sensors – two future-oriented projects illustrating that uncompromising food quality will always be an ongoing challenge for Raytec.
