We have a proud history of providing product handling and refrigeration systems to the global products processing industry. Here are some of the milestones in our history:

1884 – The original Mercer company was established in 1884 by Mr James Mercer in Christchurch, New Zealand.

1952 – Milmeq had its beginnings in New Zealand under the name Refrigeration Engineering, providing chilling and freezing equipment to meat processors to enable the export of their product.

1965 – Haden and Custance was established with a vision to become market leaders in manufacturing. Initially the company specialised in bed spring and bed production.

1970s – Demand for process improvements in the consumer product manufacturing industries grew as local manufacturers such as Watties Foods and Morrison Industries scaled up their operations. Haden and Custance moved into providing solutions for manufacturers, including palletising systems.

1970s – Milmeq (then known as Realcold) developed automatic chilling and freezing tunnels for the meat and dairy industries.

1990s – Robots were introduced to Haden and Custance product handling systems for the dairy industry. Milmeq pioneered the development of large-scale plate freezers for the meat processing industry.

2001 – Our first first dairy-dedicated handling system was designed to remove cartons and plastic wrap from 20kg/40lb cheese blocks being fed to conversion lines. This technology, while constantly evolving, has been at the core of more than 130 installations around the world since.

2002 – Haden and Custance merged with automation company P&D Systems, enabling us to provide a turnkey design service to customers.

2016 – Haden and Custance was purchased by New Zealand listed company Mercer Group.

2017 – The BetaVac and AiCo prouct ranges were brought under the H&C umbrella.

2019 – The company purchased Milmeq to extend its capabilities into chilling and freezing and re-branded as H&C Automated Solutions.