Business

Coleraine agri-tech firm seals new deals with major US egg producers

Invest NI's Steve Harper (left) with Chris McCoubrey, director at Unitas Software. Picture by Kelvin Boyes.
Invest NI's Steve Harper (left) with Chris McCoubrey, director at Unitas Software. Picture by Kelvin Boyes. Invest NI's Steve Harper (left) with Chris McCoubrey, director at Unitas Software. Picture by Kelvin Boyes.

A COLERAINE agri-tech firm that specialises in software solutions for the poultry industry has secured new deals worth $1 million (£772,000) with egg producers in the US and Europe.

Unitas Software has penned contracts with Kreher’s Farm Fresh Eggs in New York, and Vital Farms, an ethical food company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Additional contracts have been secured in Holland with an Organic Egg Farming Co-op.

Director Chris McCoubrey said the software helps companies manage their organisations in a more efficient way, enabling them to connect all parts of the supply chain.

He said the company has received £161,590 of R&D support from Invest NI over the past five years.

“Invest NI’s support has been key in helping us achieve the global success we have had so far. Over the last five years, we have used its R&D support to consistently improve our products and provide our clients with a competitive advantage through our cloud based platform,” said the director.

He said Invest NI’s export programme, Going Dutch, had encouraged them to look outside the north.

“Before the Going Dutch experience, our sales were predominantly in the UK,” he said. “Now over 50 per cent of our business is export and growing.

“We have visited the US numerous times and utilised the support of Invest NI’s team to secure customers in Wisconsin, New York and Texas which puts us in a position for further growth in the coming months and years.”

Invest NI’s international business director, Steve Harper, said: “In just four years, Unitas has used our R&D support to enhance, define and improve its software and grow from selling in the UK to breaking into Europe and most recently the US.

“Our teams in the US and Europe helped identify potential customers and made initial introductions, which has led to it winning new business and building an excellent in-market reputation for the delivery of its software.

“This is impressive progress and is a great example of how our partnership approach with companies is working.”