What trends in demand is Pochteca observing across its product portfolio?

We've observed a growing trend among customers and suppliers to partner with responsible distributors like Pochteca for their raw materials, ingredients, chemical products, and industrial solutions needs. This shift is largely driven by the extensive range of value-added services we offer, combined with our broad geographical presence across 11 countries. 

Our value-added services are diverse, including specialized logistics, advanced inventory management systems, efficient small order processing, technical support, product application development, training programs, customized product packaging and blending, waste management solutions, and other environmentally conscious offerings.

What opportunities is Pochteca pursuing in the market?

For now, we are focusing our efforts on replicating success and materializing synergies between our business units and countries. Where applicable, Pochteca aims to replicate regional strengths in particular sectors to other regions. In mining, for example, we are very strong in Chile and Peru. But there is also a lot of mining in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. We just started up a mining lab in San Luis Potosi, in the heart of Mexico, to replicate what we have in Santiago, Chile. In food ingredients, we aim to replicate Pochteca´s strength in Mexico and Central America to the Andean region. For oilfield chemicals, we are working on replicating our success in Brazil and Mexico to Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. This is a very big project because we serve more than 40 industrial sectors, from food to mining to oil and gas, and everything in between.

Can you discuss the role of Diversity & Inclusion initiatives in Pochteca?

Pochteca´s commitment is clear: we do not discriminate against anyone based on gender, ethnicity, religion, social status, age, sex, disability, or other characteristics. We believe that diversity enriches the company´s culture and fosters growth. Our hiring policy focuses on skills and experience, actively promoting diversity and inclusion. We seek internal promotion and local recruitment in all our hiring processes. Additionally, we strive to ensure equal pay between men and women, based on employee performance, without distinctions.

What are your expectations for 2025?

We believe that chemical distribution will continue to grow in 2025 and beyond and is gaining share from direct business between manufacturers and customers as they realize the value of doing business through distribution.

In this context, we will continue to play an important role in Latin America´s chemical supply chain, demonstrating our ability to drive growth and competitiveness. Our value proposition goes beyond simple distribution; we provide value-added services, gather market information, and simplify complexities for manufacturers and customers along the value chain.

Our firm commitment is to consistently create value for customers and suppliers, enter new sectors, acquire new clients, expand into untapped regions, replicate our successes across various countries, and capitalize on emerging trends that manufacturers might miss or find challenging to understand on their own.

Leveraging our extensive geographic presence in Latin America, we serve hundreds of cities with thousands of manufacturing enterprises. Our reach spans over 40 diverse business segments, including food processing, home and personal care, paints and coatings, mining, oil and gas, the automotive industry, and various other chemical-consuming industries. Directly serving these segments would be very expensive for manufacturers due to geographic dispersion and the complexity of cultural differences and local nuances.

We are currently implementing a comprehensive digital transformation strategy, named “Proyecto Cacao,” aimed at enhancing our existing operations and revolutionizing the experiences of our customers, employee, and suppliers.

This strategy includes a wide range of initiatives across our business landscape, such as process improvements, the implementation of cutting-edge ERP systems, e-commerce solutions, and inventory management systems. Our commitment to digital transformation is based on the understanding that it is an ongoing journey characterized by continuous improvement and innovation. 

Additionally, within our IT ecosystem, we integrate a suite of essential tools, artificial intelligence, robotics, and software solutions, enabling us to streamline data processing, automate workflows, and reduce operational costs. This integrated approach results in a more cost-efficient service model for our suppliers and a lower total cost of ownership for our clients, reinforcing our commitment to delivering value at every contact point.

Executing our strategy with world-class ESG standards is a key pillar and success factor moving forward.