Industry profile

GOLFETTO SANGATI

Expansion into China,

North Africa and beyond

by Andrew Wilkinson, Milling and Grain

olfetto Sangati was born from the

blending of the unique skillsets
of different leaders in the milling
engineering and cereal handling
industries. Based in the heart of
Veneto, one of the most industrially
developed areas of northern Italy,
and boasting an ever expanding
workforce that has now swelled to
over 200 employees who oversee the building of projects right
from the initial design stages; right up to the delivery of the final
product.
Golfetto Sangati develops, builds and installs turnkey plants
of durum and wheat mills, maize mills, animal feed plants,
rice mills, ship loading and unloading systems, storage for raw
materials and finished products.
In the past, the Italians have mainly focussed on the European
markets. However, following a recent successful expansion
into China, Milling and Grain magazine met their CEO, Mr
Claudio Zavatta to ask him how he felt the Chinese venture
was progressing, how the company plan to increase their global
influence and any issues that he believed were vital to ensuring
that Golfetto Sangati continues to consolidate their position as a
global manufacturing superpower.

Eastward progression

This past year has been immensely profitable, said Mr

Zavatta, with turnover currently up ten percent on 2014, with
much of this success owing much to a growing presence in the
Chinese market; which in the past year alone has increased by as
much as 50 percent.
How has this happened? Well, Golfetto Sangati now boast their
70 | June 2016 - Milling and Grain

very own completely separate, independent Chinese company

that features entirely unique engineering, manufacturing and sales
departments. The Chinese venture means that the companys
structure now dictates that all components manufactured in China
are only sold in China, South Africa and India, with the Italian
based facility serving all other foreign markets.
However, the focus at the Chinese plant is still set very firmly
on both quality and the employment of their best practice
philosophy. The Chinese workforce are also trained by Italian
staff who impart their vast knowledge on all matters concerning
engineering, technology, software tutoring and workshop
supervision to their Chinese counterparts, and Mr Zavatta visits
himself every three months to ensure that the Golfetto Sangati
passion for excellence and attention to detail are maintained at all
stages of the manufacturing process.

Maintaining global influence

Although Italy is still their main market and therefore their

number one priority, some of the companys focus has recently
switched to establishing a foothold in North Africa.
Mr Zavatta takes great satisfaction from the fact that they now
have a presence in the Algerian market; the appointment of a
locally born individual with well over twenty years milling
experience in France and an in-depth knowledge of local cultural
matters is seen as being absolutely crucial to the companys
success in North Africa.
Golfetto Sangati passionately believe that their increased
capacity in Algeria will also have a positive influence on their
market share in the neighbouring countries of Morocco and
Tunisia; they also hope in the future to make waves further afield
in countries such as Egypt and Iran - with the latter highlighted as
having great potential, with some fantastic opportunities now

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As well as in the Middle East, the Italians also have plans to
expand into several South American countries too, with the UK
and Ireland also being firmly in their sights.

The importance of investing in young people

In addition to their desire to increase their global market

share, Golfetto Sangati also place a very high value on
investment in the future generation of milling industry
employees. However, Mr Zavattas plans extend far beyond just
training millers.
In order to be able to staff the milling industry of tomorrow,
he believes that training in areas such as marketing and sales
are also key to the entire industrys future success, as many of
the connections between industry employees are forged through
relationships that develop over time.
It certainly would seem that the aim of this policy is to ensure
that by investing in the younger generation, this will ensure that
future inter-generational passing of the milling industry baton
will be as seamless and organic as is possible.

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Long term strategy

Planning for the future appeared to be a common theme in

everything Mr Zavatta discussed with us. As well as broader
goals of international expansion and investment in the next
generation, he also outlined more detailed plans such as their
intention to employ 3-4 more engineers in 2016.
In the much longer term, Mr Zavatta also discussed his
ambition for their own milling school, very much like the
Pavan school which offers a variety of 5 day courses on how
to mill a variety of pastas and snacks, but with the addition of
courses that focus on milling tech tuition, pre-extrusion and
drying tech.
With such plans for growth and expansion, and with one
eye trained firmly on the future of milling, it is certainly very
evident that Mr Zavatta has many great plans in place that will
ensure that he leaves in very positive legacy, and in doing so,
guarantee that Golfetto Sangati is one company that is a force
to be reckoned with for many generations to come.

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100 Airport Road
Sabetha, KS 66534, USA
Phone: 785-284-2153
Fax: 785-284-3143
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www.extru-techinc.com

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