2021 marks the 5th anniversary of our commercial partnership with Tilman Barthel and his team in Germany. The collaboration was established to help bring Cimbria’s optical sorters to food, milling and seed processing customers. The most important uses of optical sorters in Germany are for the production of cereals consumed locally and wheat and rye, which are the main ingredients for bread produced across the entire region.
Market fragmentation among a number of producers and selectors made it necessary to be closer to customers. That’s why our relationship with Tilman has grown stronger over the last five years. Moreover, being present and speaking the same language are valued by our customers and by us as the excellence of our products can be matched by the very punctual service offered by Tilman.
The 2021 anniversary is especially significant as we reflect on the exceptional circumstances of the past two years. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we demonstrated our regional leadership, grit and collaborative spirit by jointly creating economic opportunities.
We asked Tilman Barthel about the partnership and his expectations for the future:
Tilman, what have you valued most about your partnership with Cimbria?
First, I appreciate the quality of the product. Of course, I knew the brand Cimbria already, but I needed to verify the quality of the products beyond the brand. So, I tested the equipment and remained impressed by the results delivered by Cimbria’s optical sorters. After 5 years, I can confirm my clients see successful results nearly every time they test Cimbria and compare the results with other fabricators. For example, we gained one of our most important customers thanks to the superior performance of the equipment. He compared Cimbria and three other companies using the exact same samples. We won the challenge thanks to Cimbria’s precision.
Cimbria sorters are manufactured in Italy. How is it to work with a team based in Italy?
German customers prefer product tests in Germany or with the German team. We saw this as an opportunity to introduce them to the actual team taking care of them in the future. That’s why we have set up our own product test area with a range of Cimbria’s optical sorters. This is a service we are proud to supply clients with and our customers really appreciate it. We can say that almost all our customers benefit from this service. Our relationship with Cimbria’s Italian team is trustful and efficient. We have learned to offer urgent services when needed and more stable support to all kind of clients. This is something not easy to achieve, but we accomplished it.
What do you expect for the future?
We share the same goals as Cimbria: to improve the production of our clients and deliver success. The strength of our offer and our shared expertise make our goals achievable and our impact on the market undeniable. That’s why my expectation is to keep going, with excellent products and constant pre-sales and after sales support to our respected customers.
In addition, I expect growth in the organic sector. People are getting more aware that organic products are important for our environment and our soil, which is important to me. We have about half of our work there because we have many references in this field and we exhibit at the leading fair for organic food every year. These customers usually have multiple products. So, top-quality Cimbria optical sorters are needed for gluten-free products and also because they need individualized service.
