Oct 24, 2023

Enza Zaden fortifies Central American presence

Enza Zaden has conducted business since 2011 in Central America as an export region managed by Enza Zaden Export B.V. in the Netherlands and supported by a dedicated regional sales team.

This approach has fostered strong relationships with key dealers and driven substantial year-over-year sales growth. However, in response to changes in Central America’s competitive landscape and market potential, Enza Zaden has set its sights higher.

The company has a new strategic vision that involves full integration of Central American operations into the dynamic business model of the North American region. This visionary move follows years of strategic planning and reflects the company’s commitment to understanding and supporting customer needs through partnership-style relationships.

“By raising the quality of both the domestic and export markets in Central America, we look forward to replicating our growth trajectory in Mexico and the U.S. since 2007,” Hermann Castro, regional marketing director of Enza Zaden North and Central America, said in a news release. “As we continue to enhance our presence, customers will see the difference that our genetics, our people and our partnerships deliver in Central America and all markets we serve.”

The integration will be managed under the leadership of Rodolfo Leyva, regional sales director of North and Central America, and Gonzalo Tovar, commercial director of Enza Zaden Central America. With decades of global and regional experience in the seed industry, both Leyva and Tovar prioritize the development of strong dealer and grower relationships.

“By leveraging current strengths and exploring new opportunities, we will build our success in Central America together with our partners,” Leyva said in the release.

From an innovation perspective, rapid knowledge transfer of advanced growing technologies used in Mexico is already underway. Enza Zaden has a pioneering history as a seed breeder, and a global-for-local approach that leverages premium genetics and deep local knowledge to create state-of-the-art solutions.

The company’s groundbreaking 2016 identification of a high resistance (HR) gene for Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV) provides a notable example. Just six years later, following extensive trials in Mexico, Enza Zaden was first-to-market with HR ToBRFV varieties for multiple key tomato production regions around the world. Along with strict phytosanitary measures, the new varieties marketed as the “HREZ” collection provide most important solution tool currently available in the fight against ToBRFV.

“In Central America and all other regions where we operate, we focus on deep awareness of local conditions, augmented by research capacity that enables delivery of the complete package; the right products at the right time, with quality, taste, texture, color and shelf life that exceed expectations,” Tovar said in the release.

Leyva said he’s excited about the integration, and that its success ultimately lies in a cohesive team that shares deep understanding of the region’s unique opportunities and challenges. “While Mexico shares a lot of commonalities with Central America, there are a surprising number of business, cultural and phytosanitary differences to be appreciated, by region and by country. Awareness of these nuances is critical to fortifying productive, long-term relationships with our Central American customers, and to ensuring the overall success of our go-to-market approach,” Leyva said in the release.

By leveraging strengths and aligning efforts across sales, marketing, product and research and development, Enza Zaden is confidently poised to deliver product and service excellence within Central America and end-markets in the US and beyond, according to the release.