São Paulo – A manufacturer of agricultural equipment and provider of specialized workforce training, Verdetec is expanding its operations beyond Brazil and Latin America. The company is seeking partners and business opportunities in Arab countries, Africa, the United States, Europe, and Asia. From April 1 to 5, it will exhibit at the Bahrain International Garden Show in Bahrain.
Verdetec offers hydroseeding, a lawn-planting technique that combines water, seeds, wood fibers, and fertilizers, among other ingredients. The solution is sprayed onto the ground, where it promotes vegetation growth. It is an alternative to the conventional method that uses sod slabs.
According to Verdetec’s co-founder and director, Rodrigo Zaleski, hydroseeding is more productive than traditional grass planting. “With the conventional method, a farm needs to grow the grass for six months before it can be transported to its destination,” he explains. After spray application, ground coverage is completed in as little as 30 days.
Zaleski illustrates the higher productivity of liquid grass—the registered name of one of the company’s products: a truck that can transport 1,000 square meters of sod can carry enough inputs to cover up to 50,000 square meters of liquid grass.
The main uses for liquid grass are landscaping projects, reforestation, and the restoration of erosion-prone areas. The technique can be applied to small farms and for stabilizing shifting dunes. According to the executive, Arab countries have demand and offer business opportunities for the product.
“We are going to the Arab countries because there is a strong demand for green solutions; several Arab countries have programs to ‘green’ their nations and plant trees. With our technique, in addition to planting grass, we can plant forests and carry out reforestation,” he says.
The model the company plans to use for its international expansion is based on distributing its product and method. Headquartered in Santa Catarina, Verdetec manufactures the inputs and equipment and sells them to local distributors. Additionally, the company provides training to develop skilled labor to carry out hydroseeding. This training can then be offered by the local partner to other companies and individuals in the countries where Verdetec’s products are available.
Verdetec’s participation in Gulf trade fair
“We’re looking for regional partners who want to be distributors, to lead this movement, to be Verdetec in their territories,” says Zaleski. The company wants distributors to promote the technique in their countries, provide training for applicators, and sell equipment and products. “We’re seeking these distributors in the Middle East—to take this model, validated in Brazil over six years, and continue its expansion in other countries.”
Part of this partnership-seeking project, he says, will be participation in the Bahraini fair. “Some things have already started happening. We’ll exhibit from April 1 to 5 at the Bahrain International Garden Show—Verdetec will be there to showcase this business model and distribution opportunity,” he says.
Read more:
Brazilian, Indian run innovative Saudi-based agtech
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
