JASA Packaging Solutions

This interview details JASA, a Packaging Solutions Company based in the Netherlands. The interview is with Joost Somford, CCO of JASA.

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What is the origin story of JASA?

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JASA Packaging Solutions, a Netherlands-based family-owned packaging company, opened a new sales and service office in Richmond, Virginia in 2018. The company is bringing its line of what it describes as "innovative, flexible packaging machinery" directly to US producers, although its machines have already been available since the 1980s through distributors.

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Sandra Somford, President of JASA Packaging Solutions in the US, described the history of the company, which dates back to the 1960s. Somford's grandfather owned a company that washed, pre-cooked and packed vegetables. "The first machines were already used for automation and my father, working there from his teens, loved working on the machinery and optimization of the production processes," she recalled. "That has been the start of JASA Packaging Solutions, where the focus always has been on automatic weighing and packaging fresh produce and other fresh products. Until today, we’re still a proud supplier to the company Hessing in The Netherlands that took over my grandfather’s business."

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After JASA began as a company in 1985, Somford said her father came into contact with Newtec, a supplier of weighing equipment, mainly for the potato industry. "We’ve sold many Newtec-JASA weigh and packaging combinations since then, and expanded our international distributor network throughout Europe, North America, and Oceania. Our first JASA machine in the US was sold by Ag-Pak in the late 1980s."

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"Since the global financial crisis in 2008 we transformed our business and started focusing on innovation with the development of new machinery," she continued. "We’ve been growing steadily since then and since 2016 we’ve added the focus of international sales, of which the opening of our US Sales and Service office is one of the results.

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What are some of the biggest challenges facing JASA in the future? 

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The largest challenge is the change to sustainable materials and packaging. In Europe, we have been one of the leaders in this by providing our customers with solutions that can handle common plastic but also sustainable solutions like paper materials. We noticed this also becomes more of an item for the Norhtern American market but the way of packing is a bit different than in Europe and we are working hard to make this all compatible. We also noticed changing the Northern American market to sustainable products just takes a bit longer than in Europe.  

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What is unique about JASA compared to competitors? 

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We are a full solution provider, meaning we take care of it all from design until installation and getting ready for production. We listen to the customer and try to create the best solution with the equipment available. Another advantage is that we are able to connect it all together so when there are issues you do not need to check all machinery or call different suppliers.

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What are some trends you are seeing in the indoor farming space at JASA? 

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It was a rough year for indoor farming but we noticed the trust is returning to the market. Projects that were either postponed or on hold are picking up again and also investments are being made again. At this point, we see most customers looking into the future and how to expand to other states. Also, we noticed there is a movement to have more products under the roof next to leafy greens. There is a lot of experimenting but that also means there will be a lot of new products available soon to the local supermarkets.

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Any predictions for the future of the indoor farming / CEA space? 

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As soon as people acknowledge the benefits of indoor farming and notice the fresher produce they receive from it we expect another growth of greenhouses. Also, the sustainable aspect of “local” farming is going to be an interesting aspect of this development. At this point, the quality and possibilities are growing quickly and greenhouses are adapting more and more to grow in any circumstances.

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How can people connect with you or learn more about JASA?

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The easiest way is to check our website; www.jasapackaging.com or send an email to sales@jasapackaging.com and we will make sure we get back to you as soon as we can. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. 

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