UPL to invest US$ 200 million in Brazil in 5 years - Interview with UPL Marketing Director in Brazil, Marcelo Zanchi

 

In an exclusive interview with AgroPages, UPL marketing director Marcelo Zanchi outlined the main changes planned by the company following the acquisition of Arysta LifeScience. With this integration, the company became one of the world's five largest in the industry, with annual revenues of US$ 5 billion. Present in 130 countries, UPL aims to be “among the three largest companies in the agro market in the next three years”. To reach this goal, it projects investments of US$ 200 million just in Brazil.

 

 

The change in UPL's brand marks a much larger transformation. We are now an OpenAg company, open to a more agile and integrated collaborative agriculture, open to innovation, to the search for new solutions and technologies. As a result, our goals focus on innovative initiatives, such as the combination of chemical and biological solutions, and new digital frontiers, such as agriculture 4.0. This new direction also intends to create an open agricultural network that allows the growth of food production, a worldwide demand, only in a sustainable way with productivity and quality.

 

 

This year, the US$ 4.2 billion acquisition of Arysta LifeScience by UPL was completed. This union was born with the technology needed to balance sustainable food supplies against future demand. Our annual revenue expectation is over $ 5 billion, making us one of the top five companies in the world in the industry. With our new OpenAg strategies, we are reinforcing our goal of bringing integrated solutions to the food production chain - with a greater focus on meeting the demands of the general population, and not just selling products. With this in mind, plus a robust portfolio, the result of the integration of both companies allows us to anticipate becoming among the 3 largest companies in the agro market in the next 3 years - and Brazil is the key player in this strategy, because the country is the largest market for the company.

 

 

For us, providing the best technologies for efficient management is being able to be part of farm - and agricultural - developments and delivering expectations, bringing us closer and closer to those that are the focus of our business, the farmers. The unification of the pipeline of the two companies has formed a unique, synergistic portfolio, one of the most complete and robust in the market, enabling it to meet the complexity and dynamics of various strategic crops for the company. Even with this portfolio, we continue to invest in the launch of new solutions. Our mission is to offer the producer innovative resources, with complete phytosanitary management programs, integrating chemical, biological and physiostimulation control of the plant, providing greater profitability and quality for the food production chain.

 

 

This new UPL brings very important news to Brazil. In the next five years, we will invest US$ 200 million in Brazil’s agriculture, initially directed to research. Thus, the country will not only be a consumer of technology, but a potential producer of resources of international interest. For example, our head office is in India, which has the potential to become the second largest consumer of food in emerging countries in the coming years due to a higher demand for resources from the population. This connection between UPL and India puts us in a very favorable position regarding Brazil's exports to the Asian country. In addition, we estimate that in 30 years about 80% of world food production will come from emerging countries, such as ours. It is a great opportunity to develop the agricultural sector and boost the Brazilian economy.