The first Congress of Agricultural Distributors (CDA) was recently held in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) where it brought together the entire marketing chain with the aim of learning and discussing the latest in the sector, and Sumitomo was part of the event .
“This was the first Congress that brought together the entire commercial chain, both distributors and suppliers of inputs, logistics, digital and other services. In the post-pandemic world, where many changes were experienced in all aspects, agriculture and Commercial chains were no exception and it was important to meet to talk about it. It is important to be future ready and embrace the process of change and transformation. We are not ignorant of what is happening in other sectors or industries, where processes are being digitized, automated and made more efficient. That’s why it’s important to have a vision and work in that direction”, explained Lucas Diaz Paniza, Marketing Manager, Sumitomo Chemical.
In any case, for the manager, the pandemic served as a confirmation that face-to-face relationships between distributors, suppliers and producers are essential, regardless of the existence of other more agile channels such as e-commerce.
“That’s something that can’t be changed by any approach and it has to do with relationships and direct contact with people, because ultimately, that’s what generates trust, that generates credibility and that’s what gets you good business.” gives support to”, he remarked.
Currently, there are around 3,000 points of sale across mega distributors, large, medium and small businesses in the country. However, Díaz Paniza commented that the firm strategically decided to work with a very small group of points of sale as it aims to be able to take care of the relationship with customers and producers.
“Today we are further developing our channel by offering a presence and support with technical and business advice, with clear communication of the value proposition and the company’s products. And we provide a lot more personalized service,” he said.
As he remarked, Sumitomo Chemical has national coverage (from north to south and east to west). “More than customers, they are our partners. They are strategically selected by region. We work very carefully to select each one of them on time and finally they decide to cooperate with us. It is a mutually beneficial relationship, always keeping an eye on the end user”, he said.
To which he added that today they work with a little over 100 strategic partners across the country.
Along these lines, he specified that Sumitomo Chemical’s value proposition includes personal attention in logistics, product quality and availability, financing, and technical and commercial aspects. “They are strategic pillars that summarize what the company offers. It’s something different, and that’s why our customers choose us”, he said.
Finally, the director of Sumitomo Chemical focused on the wheat campaign, which has already been planted in some places. In this sense, he remarked that the planting intention is high, even higher than in previous years. “Producers need to seed in December to have liquidity and to cope with debt and new investment,” he described.
However, he indicated that the next few weeks would be crucial to finally determine what the final field would be. “We are all wishing and waiting for the forecasts that speak of this transition to a neutral year or even a child year to come true. Currently, there are areas where planting in good condition Between 50 and 200 milliamperes are needed to start,” he concluded.
