Australian technology manufacturer, Flavourtech Pty Ltd, was last week presented with Austrade’s National Recognition Award for Resilience, Ingenuity and Courage.
Established in 1987, Flavourtech is a global technology manufacturer headquartered in Australia, which specialises in aroma recovery, extraction and evaporation solutions for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries.
In late 2020, Flavourtech was recognised by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as part of a Remarkable Exporters’ showcase. This national recognition program replaced the 2020 Australian Export and Investment Awards and celebrated stories of resilience, perseverance and adaptation under pressure during the Covid-19 pandemic.
While the award for Resilience, Ingenuity and Courage was announced at the end of 2020, the official presentation by the Hon Sussan Ley, Minister for the Environment, was only able to take place last week due to Covid-19 restrictions being in place until now.
Flavourtech’s general manager, Leon Skaliotis, proudly accepted the award on behalf of the entire Flavourtech team. “We would not be where we are today without the hard work, dedication and sacrifice each and every staff member has shown over the course of the pandemic.”
When the pandemic hit and international borders closed, Mr Skaliotis re-counts how Flavourtech turned its attention to new technologies and innovative procedures that could be applied remotely as well as taking the time to work on the business by implementing a new ERP system.
“Typically, half our staff travel because they are either salespeople or engineers that are installing, servicing or teaching customers how to operate the equipment. Suddenly with the travel ban, all that revenue stopped, and we had to find new ways to conduct our business.”
“As many of our customers are from non-English speaking countries, our engineers created picture manuals using photos to show what to do and how to do it. Then, they’d be online with clients in their time zone, sometimes working through the night, talking to them through various channels and using Augmented Reality glasses to see our equipment operating in real-time.”
“We always considered that doing some of these things remotely was not possible and here we are conducting installations and commissioning equipment remotely and successfully.”
To watch Flavourtech’s story of resilience during the pandemic visit https://www.just-food.com/videos/austrade-remarkable-exporter-flavourtech-story/#flavourtech.