Lainco：Drives global agricultural sustainability with innovative biological solutions

Currently, global agriculture is at a key stage towards sustainable development. Achieving quality, efficiency and green growth in an integrated way is an important issue. The continuous introduction of innovative biological solutions around the world is significant to the high-quality development of agriculture.

Lainco, a Spanish company founded in 1934, has grown from a small pharmaceutical laboratory into a multinational corporation that provides a wide range of agricultural solution product lines, after nearly a century of continuous development and deeper penetration into the agricultural field.

This year, 2024, marks the 90^th anniversary of Lainco. On the occasion, AgroPages conducted an exclusive interview with Lainco’s CEO Jordi Ballesta and the company’s Join Administrator Francesc Llauradó. In the interview, Ballesta and Llauradó jointly reviewed important milestones in Lainco’s development history with us and shared the company’s core philosophy and future development plans. 

Jordi Ballesta(left), CEO of Lainco, and Francesc Llauradó (right), Join Administrator of Lainco

The basic philosophy behind Lainco’s nearly 100 years of growth has always been to focus on human well-being and invest in innovation. Looking to the future, Lainco has set a clear goal to hit €100 million in revenue by 2028 and will focus more on developing natural and biological solutions, to meet consumer demand for green and eco-friendly agricultural products.

Please briefly introduce Lainco's development history and your major agricultural solutions. How did the company gradually evolve from a laboratory to a multinational enterprise with over €67 million in annual turnover? 

Our story at Lainco is a modest journey that began in 1934 as a small pharmaceutical laboratory specializing in digestive and antiseptic products. In the 1950s, Lainco began its agricultural activity with soil fumigation products, which it added to in the following years with fungicides and insecticides. The products were the result of distribution agreements with other companies or were their own products. 

Over time, we ventured deeper into the agricultural realm, whether through distribution agreements or through our own developments. We work humbly to provide an expanding range of solutions that meet the needs of our customers. Today, the agricultural business constitutes 85% of our turnover, reflecting our gradual growth and ongoing commitment to excellence in this field. 

Our product line is extensive and includes everything, including fungicides, insecticides, herbicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, fertilizers, and biostimulants. We are proud to say that many of these products come from biological sources, reflecting our commitment to sustainable practices and environmental stewardship.

In recent years, Lainco’s performance has grown rapidly. What strategies do you think are mainly attributable to such rapid development? 

The rapid growth of Lainco in recent years is primarily due to several key strategies. Firstly, we have improved our approach to customers and their needs, boasting a significant network of clients in 42 countries. Additionally, we have fostered extraordinary teamwork among all members of our organization, while focusing on results and integrating new talent into the company. We have also leveraged access to market data, such as panels and studies, to make decisions based on facts rather than intuition. Continuously enhancing our offerings across the entire company catalog, to be considered a "Top," "Strategic" or "Potential" distributor, has been crucial. Our marketing strategy has promoted the "Lainco" brand through extensive communication on social networks, client meetings and our presence at events. 

Furthermore, we have provided increased technical support to our customers through organizing team training on products and preparing clear and practical technical support information. Establishing agreements with external companies for the distribution of complementary products to our catalog has also played a role. All these efforts were also supported by the significant backing of our customers for all our actions.

In recent years, Lainco has continued increasing its R&D investment. What are the major directions of the company’s R&D activities in the agricultural field? What kind end users’ needs and pain points do you wish to solve by such an investment? What products are already in the pipeline? 

In recent years, Lainco has continued to increase its investment in R&D. The company’s main areas of research and development in the agricultural field are focused on two key factors. Firstly, we are making a significant investment in regulation to ensure that our current products comply with the most demanding standards. At the same time, we are developing new products based on biotechnology, by specifically utilizing microorganisms and plant extracts. 

Our focus is on addressing the needs and pain points of end users, such as the search for more sustainable and environmentally-friendly solutions, as well as improving crop productivity and quality. In this regard, we have patented an eucalyptus extract worldwide for use in agriculture and launched it as a biostimulant in 2024. Additionally, we have our own biotechnology laboratory for the research and production of microorganisms, enabling us to innovate quickly and efficiently. We have also appointed a Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) to lead our efforts and prepare for the challenges of the future.

The Lainco headquaters

Please introduce Lainco’s current production situation. What have been the effects of raw material supply and energy and logistics tensions in recent years on Lainco’s stable and continuous production? 

Lainco has its own production facilities, a plant with an area of more than 20,000 m2 at Rubí in Barcelona, Spain. It has always been important for Lainco to rely on its own technologies to formulate and package its products. To this end, it has an R&D team specializing in formulation and production. The biggest challenge is to continue producing at costs that allow us to offer the best prices to our customers despite rises in the costs of energy, transportation and certain raw materials. Our production capacity is increasing due to industrial investments, making us more competitive.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lainco also faced challenges due to tensions in the global supply of materials, further exacerbating the difficulties facing the stability and continuity of our production capacity and associated costs.

The Lainco warehouse 

As a global company headquartered in Spain, how do Lainco’s product and operational strategies differ in the Spanish domestic market and other national markets? What are the more mature overseas markets where Lainco is involved? And how do you find partners and establish solid and efficient partnerships in these markets?  

As a global company headquartered in Spain, Lainco adapted its products and operational strategies according to the specific market, whether domestic or international. In the domestic market, we focus on understanding our customers' needs and offering them personalized services, while in other countries, we seek to understand cultural and regulatory particularities to effectively tailor our products and services.

Lainco's most mature markets are found in southern Europe, especially in the Mediterranean region, where we have a strong presence and a stable customer base. Additionally, we are experiencing rapid growth in emerging regions, such as North Africa and the Middle East. We have also developed a significant presence in Eastern European and Latin American markets.

To establish solid and efficient partnerships in these markets, we carefully select local partners who share our values and commercial objectives. We are committed to working closely with them, ensuring smooth communication and quality services for our customers. We strive to build long-term relationships that are mutually beneficial and contribute to the sustainable growth of both parties.

The global agricultural bioproducts market has been advancing for some years. How do you assess the opportunities in this segment in emerging markets? What are Lainco’s next internationalization strategy plans? Are there plans to nurture and develop emerging markets?  

Biological products are here to stay. The market for these products continues to grow, as does consumer demand for food produced with organic products. As biological products become more effective in terms of crop protection, their use will increase. 

Lainco is firmly committed to these products and has a range of bio-stimulants and bio-fertilizers to offer solutions to global agriculture. In the coming years, Lainco plans to position itself in key markets, such as Latin America, including Brazil, as well as in the United States, North Africa and the Middle East. These markets have shown great interest in the biological products that Lainco offers and represent an important opportunity for the company.

In your opinion, what requirements does the EU Green Deal impose on the development of crop protection companies?  What does Lainco think about its agrochemical business lines and the EU market within this industry? 

Adapt or die. European legislation is becoming more and more restrictive. For Lainco, this is an opportunity to work in a different way, to be more creative and to find solutions adapted to modern agriculture, to enable us to produce food at higher quantity and quality. This is the challenge of the future that must be faced with investments, innovation and technology.

In 2024 Lainco celebrates its 90^th anniversary. What, in your opinion, is the core foundation or philosophy of Lainco’s growth for nearly a century? What measures will the company take to achieve the goal of €100 million in revenue by 2028?  

 The core foundation of Lainco for almost a century has been its commitment to well-being and innovation. Our mission is to contribute to well-being by developing solutions that protect people's health and ensure the production of quality food. To achieve our goal of reaching €100 million in revenue by 2028, we will focus on innovation and the development of natural and biological solutions, while maintaining our commitment to sustainability. We have the human capacity and determination to achieve this. This is our challenge and motivation for the future!