Argentina: José Demicheli Director of ADBlick Agro

With only 44 million inhabitants, Argentina produces enough food to sell to and feed 400 million people worldwide. The agricultural sector was what made Argentina an economic powerhouse at the turn of the 20th century. Today, it is part the majority prominent sectors of the economy, and one which the government hopes will be an engine for economic increase as Argentina further integrates its economy with the world.

While much of this sector is in the hands of wealthy landowners, entrepreneurs are finding new ways to exploit the economic potential and innovate. José Demicheli saw this potential a decade ago at the same time as he founded ADBlick Agro. His project came not from a family history in agriculture or through connections, strictly a business venture. Today, ADBlick is made up of one thousand Argentine investors who become stakeholders in the company’s agribusiness investments. With the new structural changes to the sector stemming from the reduction of export tariffs, the sector is poised to take off.

On a world level, the middle class is growing and increasing its request for processed foods. What opportunities do you see for Argentina in this regard?

I am in this line of work because in 2006 I decided to leave my corporate job to embark on my own project. I had three criteria in choosing a sector to go into business. 1) That the sector would not depend on domestic consumption. 2) That it would be a sector in which Argentina has competitive advantages. 3) That it would be a increase sector.

With these three criteria I decided on agro. I do not come from such a background and I do not have family in the business; this was an enterprise I created from scratch based on these three pillars. In the beginning, a lot of were waiting to see if and at the same time as I would fail.

It has been ten years in the business, capitalizing on the increase of the world’s people and the changing food tastes.

Argentina’s greatest opportunity is as well its greatest risk. We cannot set our national economic policy solely based on commodity commerce. Companies such as Citibank, Harrods, Mercedes-Benz, and Nestlé decided to open up shop decades ago, a lot of of them establishing their initial international branches in Argentina; a testament to the world importance of our economy at the time. Today however, we cannot have our economy depend exclusively on foreign trade.

The decade of high commodity prices was a wasted decade for Argentina because the cash was used to finance populist policies. If Argentina had been additional disciplined, it would have a significant surplus of cash and additional resilient to external shocks.

Some investors are still weary to invest in Argentina because of the vicious and unstable cycle of our economy which has occurred over a lot of years. They are still waiting to see if there is a authentic undergoing cultural change. This change does not depend on one particular party and takes additional than two years to generate or prove.

I believed in Argentina’s imminent change in course in November 2014 at the same time as I decided as a businessman to invest. I hired a general manager for one of the company divisions and we moved to a new office double the size of the former, and we launched a new cattle division of the company at a time at the same time as competitors were retreating. The election year of 2015 was a year to either wait and do nothing or bet everything on the next. Fortunately for me, our investment has been positive. This year, ADBlick has had experienced unprecedented success.

The private sector needs better infrastructure in order to reduce logistical costs so that the economy can be competitive. How do you work with the public sector for these changes?

As a businessman, I at no time had a dialogue with the government. I began my initial enterprise at age 18, at a time at the same time as businesses grew due to their deals cut with the government. I always believed that in order to develop myself and my projects, I would do it beyond government contracts. The national must establish a stable mechanism for doing business and do exercise sensible regulation.

With regards to infrastructure, there is much that remains to accomplish, and Argentina must develop a additional long-term vision. However, the Macri government is establishing clear rules of the game and working for macroeconomic stability so that the private companies can take chance of opportunities.

ADBlick by presently has 1,000 investors in Argentina. What is the next step for the organization?

This year our objective is to launch an investment fund with foreign investors. This is the next step for our organization as we build on a ten-year track record and seize the opportunities in Argentina’s new economic arena. Through the difficult years for agribusiness between 2012 and 2015 we were able to surmount a lot of obstacles. Presently that the conditions from the government have improved, we are poised to take chance of this new environment.

What is the key identity of ADBlick?

We define ourselves by both professionalism and open heartedness. We have solid values which our investors have come to know. We involve investors in our strategy orientation; this way they understand the challenges and the path to overcome them.

However, nearly 95% of investors don’t look at the books; they trust us to manage their money because we have a proven ability to achieve profitability. This is what has set us apart, and which has encouraged several private firms to hire us as consultants for our expertise in agribusiness. Such a request for our skills prompted us to open the ADBlick Business Consulting division.