UPL, Bunge launch new agri-input distributor Sinova in Brazil

In partnership with the Global Capital Fund, the agrochemical multinational, UPL, and the trading company, Bunge, have announced the launch of the agri-input distributor, Sinova. 

The new brand that replaces the former company, Sinagro, which will end its operations after 23 years of activities in ten Brazilian states and was one of the largest in the country, with 68 stores and a turnover of BRL3 billion in 2022.

According to the new CEO of Sinova, Rodrigo Gutiérrez, the reorganization was a response to the crisis that has affected the agricultural input distribution sector over the past two years. With over 30 years of experience in the chemical pesticide market, Gutiérrez has previously worked for Monsanto and Bayer before serving as CEO of Adama in Brazil and the United States. According to him, the transition process to the Sinova brand began about three months ago and included a series of changes to streamline operations and make the relationship with producers more flexible. In his assessment, the focus shifts from expansion to the input and grain market, adapted to a new reality of lower soybean prices and lower demand for inputs.

Gutiérrez explained that the new priority is greater proximity to Brazilian rural producers, offering more technical support to customers, which were differentiators in the past. He also projects much better results this year, even though the outlook is still significantly challenging. The new directive is to focus on crops in which the company has more experience and a bigger market, such as soybeans, corn, cotton, and horticulture, in specific states.

According to Gutiérrez, no new stores will be opened in the next two years, as the focus will be to grow in markets where Sinova already operates. Sinova inherited, from Sinagro, a share of some 5% of the input trading markets where it operates, except for fertilizers.

The new management’s goal is to double this share in the next four or five years without increasing fixed costs by opening other physical stores, reducing bureaucracy, advancing the digitalization of operations, and retraining commercial teams. The company has around 300 professionals dedicated to customer service, including technical sales consultants and managers. In addition to UPL and Bunge, Sinova will distribute inputs from the brands, Syngenta, Ubyfol, Koppert, and AgBiTech.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)