Beyond our borders: Agrifirm in Latin America

In Latin America, Agrifirm has a strong local vision. John Dortmans, BU Director of Agrifirm LATAM, shares his vision and facts about Agrifirm's role in the region.

Brazil is the largest country in Latin America. In addition to its enormous consumption potential, the country is among the largest producers and exporters of animal proteins. It is also the world's largest exporter of beef and chicken. Brazil currently feeds 19% of the world's population. To compete in this market, Dortmans says, requires a highly professional approach. "It is necessary to fully understand the needs of our customers and to know how to adapt our knowledge, expertise and global products to local conditions in Brazil." Furthermore, all professional international competitors are present in this market, meaning we have to be on the top of our game every day to become and maintain the preferred partner to our customers.

Developments in Brazil

Even during this challenging period of the pandemic, Agrifirm Brazil continues to invest and grow in the country. In March 2020, Agrifirm opened its LATAM office and headquarters in Curitiba/PR, in southern Brazil, in a strategic location that allows easy access to larger companies and partners. In May 2021, Agrifirm started operations in the state of Minas Gerais, expanding the service to the Southeast and Midwest regions of the country, very important regions for agriculture and livestock.

Agrifirm has also just opened new additives plant in Maripá/PR, in a region where large farmers, integrations and some of the largest cooperatives in Brazil are located. John  Dortmans explains: “We also increased our focus on additives and therefore opened a new factory last August. In addition to this, in September 2020, we introduced our global additives portfolio Agrimprove. Furthermore, we have started a partnership with Orbia, a large company that works with loyalty programs and marketplace. This platform has access to 165,000 farmers in Brazil. Agrifirm joined three months ago in the loyalty program, as the first nutrition company. Other big companies on Orbia are Bayer, Mosaic, Boehringer Ingelhein and others. In the future, we have plans to start selling through this marketplace”.

Great Place to Work®

People are one of the enablers for Agrifirm LATAM growth. In the region, Agrifirm has around 280 employees – 70 in Uruguay and around 210 in Brazil. Agrifirm in Brazil and Uruguay has just received the recognition of Great Place to Work®, an award in which we have been recognized by our employees as a great place to work. Great Place to Work® is a global consultancy that supports organizations to achieve better results through a culture of trust, high performance and innovation. The consulting company is present in 97 countries, analyzes more than 10,000 companies annually, which corresponds to more than 10 million employees impacted worldwide.

During the pandemic, we also launched the Agricare program, an initiative aimed at the physical and mental health of employees and new initiatives that are part of this program should be presented shortly.

New business strategy

Almost 3 years ago, Agrifirm started a business restructuring in Brazil. The goal: to professionalize the organization and adapt the business to the local market. "Our strong commercial strategy is based on customer excellence" explains Dortmans. "We want to know our customers and meet their needs with a strong product portfolio, high added value, technical knowledge and advice. To achieve this, we invest in long-term relationships with our customers. These relationships are very important, but they are not enough. That is why we have also invested in technology-driven advice and have introduced no less than 55 new products into our nutrition portfolio. We also introduced new additives from our global portfolio, supporting the sustainable development of Brazilian agribusiness." With the Agrimprove product portfolio we will continue be able to make a difference for the performance of our customers.

Sustainability and collaboration

Agrifirm is actively engaged in sustainability and cooperation in Brazil. To this end, Dortmans recently signed the 'Declaration of Brazilian Business'. With this, Agrifirm underlines its commitment to building a responsible food chain for future generations based on sustainable agricultural development. Agrifirm Brazil is also part of DUTCHAM (the Dutch-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce). This organization promotes cooperation between Dutch companies and the business community in Brazil. Companies such as Heineken, Shell, Phillips, FrieslandCampina, KLM and Rabobank are some of its members. Dortmans: "Through this collaboration, we are part of committees for sustainability, diversity and inclusion, as well as other initiatives that use the power of Dutch companies to increase the impact of local actions." Agrifirm Brazil is also one of the finalists for the Entrepreneur of the Year award, held by Dutcham Brazil. The award aims to recognize the contribution of companies based on the pillars of innovation, sustainability and diversity and inclusion and once again we are highlighted in the Brazilian business environment. 

Creating benefits for members

Agrifirm's presence in Latin America offers many benefits to the Dutch market and to Agrifirm members. Dortmans: "The profit we make here is partly paid out to our members as dividends. In addition, we gather a great deal of knowledge in our network from which our Dutch members can benefit in an increasingly globalised market. For example, in the form of new products and advice aimed at maximizing the performance of their business."