It may be a relatively new player when it comes to supplying vineyard equipment, but Chichester-based Vitimech has made its intentions clear from day one.
By focusing on quality machinery manufacturers such as Collard and Calvet, alongside the immensely versatile Avant range, the ‘new kid on the block’ is promising to deliver customer-focused solutions to both existing growers and new entrants to the industry.
And while Vitimech has only been around since September of last year, its close ties with long-established parent company Chichester Farm Machinery means it can also offer a wide range of other quality equipment that cuts across the groundscare/viticulture divide.
Another string to the talented team’s bow is its in-house designers who can adapt a wide range of vineyard machinery to fit the impressive Avant range of loaders which can already be fitted with around 200 pieces of kit.
The flexibility of the Avant range has inspired Vitimech to put together a package of vineyard equipment that is designed to support new vineyard owners, particularly in the first few years of vine establishment when the cash flow is only going one way.
James Brett, sales manager for the new company, said the idea was to fit an Avant 760 loader with a Collard LZP polyvalent frame that could then be used with a vine trimmer, leaf remover or pre-pruner.
“That would give the smaller vineyard all the equipment needed to establish and care for their vines, plus a flexible loader and multi tool, for about the same cost as a high-end vineyard tractor,” he pointed out.
The supplier’s impressive range of quality machinery, including mowers, trailers, compact tractors, mulchers and telehandlers, was all on display at a well-supported open day held by Chichester Farm Machinery and Vitimech at the companies’ base at Leythorne Nurseries just outside Chichester, in the heart of the South East’s wine growing area.
One visitor, long-standing customer Jack Newcombe of JN TreeCare Ltd, described his Avant as “a game changer”, adding: “I use it every day and wouldn’t be without it.” He uses the loader with a range of equipment, including a mulching head, bucket, forks, a rotating head for tipping IBCs and a road sweeper.
Vitimech was set up in response to customers asking for replacement parts for Collard machines they had bought direct from the French manufacturer, which is based in the Champagne region and invented the world’s first vine trimmer in 1962.
“We could see a growing demand for a product of this quality in this part of the UK and so we started talking to Collard about the possibility of becoming a supplier,” explained Lewis Ramm, managing director of Chichester Farm Machinery.
With Vitimech on board as the sole UK distributor for Collard, the French manufacturer introduced James and his team to Calvet, a leading sprayer manufacturer with a well-deserved reputation for quality machinery that has a strong foothold in UK vineyards.
At the open day in early June, the company’s export sales manager Sofiane Dahou was on hand to explain the benefits of Calvet’s precision sprayer technology, particularly its drift prevention, operational precision and powerful fan.
“We are confident that the combination of Collard and Calvet, together with smaller tools from Infaco and the flexibility of the Avant range, will allow us to meet the needs of growers,” said James, who added that Vitimech was close to concluding a deal to supply vineyard cultivation equipment from a major Italian manufacturer.
In addition to the specialist vineyard equipment, Vitimech can also supply a wide range of other machinery including Teagle flails, mowers and spreaders, Bomford Turner and Kirogn hedge trimmers, Stiga ride-on mowers, Grasshopper zero-turn mowers, Iseki compact tractors and Marshall trailers, including one designed with central wheels to suit the pivot-steer Avants.
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