From The Editor

Conversations with Industry Experts

Strategizing for the Biotransformation of Agriculture

The Rovensa Group announced its new biosolutions business unit, Rovensa Next, made up of ten entrepreneurial companies organized into a global network of 30 research and development (R&D) laboratories and 84 partnerships with research centers and universities. The group also recently acquired Cosmocel S.A., a Mexican-based biostimulants company.

As more big players acquire bio-nutrition and biocontrol companies, Rovensa Next is following trend. Eric van Innis, Chief Executive Officer for the Rovensa Group, shared the reason why and the company’s strategy behind this new business unit.

Meet Your Expert: Originally from Belgium, van Innis has worked in the agriculture business for more than 30 years. He started at Groupe Roullier, then transitioned into leading the agricultural sector at Sapec Agro Business, which became the Rovensa Group.

If you are having trouble viewing this video,
click here

ABG: Rovensa Next consists of Agrichembio, Agrotecnología, Idai Nature, Microquimica, MIP Agro, OGT, Oro Agri, Rodel, SDP, and Tradecorp. What were the two key drivers of grouping these 10 companies?

EVI: Some of the companies were started from scratch and other companies were acquired more recently. All of these companies were created or developed around a similar objective, to find and propose alternative ways to manage agricultural inputs. All these companies were moving in the same direction with the same ambition of playing a larger role in the biotransformation of agriculture.

In aggregating these companies, we are bringing together knowledge and go-to-market experiences from around the world. R&D, registrations, markets, productions, and solutions knowledge that allow us to develop cross-selling synergies and cross-sharing experiences to more quickly increase our footprint and our portfolio of new solutions for distributors and farmers.

ABG: What products are you excited about that are coming to market?

EVI: We are strong in crop nutrition management, including biostimulants, now even more with the acquisition of Cosmocel. Our plant in São Paulo, Brazil, through its fermentation process, was able to discover microorganisms, as inputs for new generations of bionutrients and bioinoculants, that help plants to better uptake nutrients from the soil and the air. We are also strong in biocontrol and active in bioenhancers. In this regard, the acquisition of Oro Agri was a decisive move to allow us to develop a portfolio for these ranges of solutions.

ABG: How are you leading these companies in the creation of new products?

EVI: The bottom-up knowledge flow. I am always requesting that all my people working directly with customers to learn to speak three languages.

The first language is the language of the farmer, because a farmer in Brazil is not speaking the same language as a farmer in France or Spain, as the needs and histories are different.

Second, they must learn the language of the plants. A plant is speaking with us every day, and we need to be able to understand the signals sent and find out which stresses or diseases are affecting the growing cycle.

And third, the language of the products. If you’re talking about bio products or combination of bio products for holistic solutions, you need to understand, for each crop, what specific compounds of your product or solution have a curative or preventive effect on the lifecycle of the plants.

Understanding is creating knowledge, the bottom-up flow of this knowledge about phenology, the dynamics and interactions between metabolites and genomics, are the sources of our creation and the definition of our R&D priorities. This will allow agriculture to have a positive impact on our environment in the future.

ABG: Has Rovensa identified markets to grow its footprint in?

EVI: We already have a nice footprint in Northwest Europe, South Europe, Brazil, Mexico, and South America. We have ambitions to increase our footprint in the United States and Canada, and we are looking to better target Asia.

Africa is a continent that can help to feed the planet in the future. We have already a strong base in South Africa, from which we work with partners in the southern and eastern parts of the continent. We also have an office in Cairo, that supports our development in North Africa and the Middle East.

Consolidating all our companies, including the latest acquisition of Cosmocel, we are at $700 million in sales for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, and we are aiming to hit $1 billion in 2025. We are present in more than 50 countries and selling in more than 90 countries, we have production facilities and R&D centers on different continents and a strong pipeline of possible M&A targets.

ABG: What kind of growth do you see in Africa?

EVI: Africa should be able to feed 25% of this planet. As of today, Africa is importing food. I think there is a lack of public and private investment and the incentives to boost investments in agriculture are poor. Africa will need some time. I’m hopeful that the global needs to have enough quality food to feed the planet will force people to look at Africa in a different way and to make the right decisions to incentivize investments. There is also a need for educational programs. There is extraordinary potential. What’s happening in some countries of North Africa is a good sign. There is an extraordinary evolution of agriculture in countries like Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria, and it’s amazing to see how quickly these countries have been able to progress in the last 10 years.

ABG: What kind of communication and leadership have you put in place to organize these 10 entrepreneurial companies?

EVI: We want to design for all these companies a similar journey, enhancing the entrepreneurial and focused mindset that was the basis of their initial success and innovation, by incorporating them as part of a global project. Change management and integration processes need to be done carefully and understanding and maintaining the dynamics is fundamental. We also never want to forget that the local reality of agriculture is important; crops, climate, soils, infrastructure, distribution channels, maturities, needs and diseases of crops are not the same everywhere.

Therefore, in Rovensa Next, each area has dedicated multi-disciplinary and specialized teams, including people from each company, complementing each other in their specific expertise. We are a hands-on company, with more than 850 field experts who provide local knowledge, advice, and support, offering us crucial inputs to define our strategic plans. Our “boots on the ground”, as we call them internally, are our source of growth and creativity.

While of course we prioritize local knowledge and expertise, at a global level, we are coordinating R&D efforts, production, back-office support, financial control and strategy planning.

If you are having trouble viewing this video,
click here

ABG: The plans for growing Rovensa are evident. What is inspiring this growth?

EVI: We need to be humble and realistic, but we are on an inspiring journey of helping agriculture to guarantee accessible and quality food for every human on this planet on a sustainable way. If this huge challenge for the agriculture sector, due to climate change or geopolitical reasons, is not able to be overcome, everybody will suffer, and we would see an increase in social and regional conflicts due to increased disparities.

So, being able to play a positive role in these challenges is an inspiring mission. It’s the reason why we are fighting every day for the future of agriculture and our company. •

Stock.Adobe.com