Duravant to acquire electronic fruit and vegetable sorters manufacturer WECO

Duravant has agreed to acquire Woodside Electronics Corporation (WECO), a California-based manufacturer of optical color and defect sorting equipment for fruits and vegetables, for an undisclosed price.

Based in Illinois, Duravant is an equipment and automation solutions provider that serves the food processing, packaging and material handling sectors.

WECO, along with Key Technology, a member of the Duravant family of operating companies,  is expected to considerably extend Duravant’s reach across the automated food processing and inspection areas with new complementary products, applications, and technologies.

Mike Kachmer – President and CEO of Duravant said: “WECO’s culture of customer-centric innovation and commitment to rapid and effective new product development makes them a wonderful addition to the Duravant family. WECO moves us into new markets with product-focused applications that are complementary to Key Technology’s offerings; allowing us to provide an even more complete solutions set to our customers.”

Duravant to acquire electronic fruit and vegetable sorters manufacturer WECO. Photo courtesy of WECO.

For over 30 years, WECO has been a major provider in optical sorting technology for fruits and nuts. Its portfolio is said to feature highly intelligent optical color and also defect sorting systems and moisture monitoring systems.

WECO caters to domestic and multi-national customers with its technology designed to remove the need for manual hand labor and for maximizing throughput.

Don Douglas – President of WECO said: “WECO is truly excited to join Duravant, and we look forward to collaborating with the portfolio of Duravant companies.

“Duravant and WECO are clearly aligned with a shared culture and Duravant’s global footprint will assist us in accelerating growth while continuing to provide world-class innovation and support to our customers.”