Exclusive Interview with Bellota Agrisolutions sales director, Inigo Ascoz at AGRITECHNICA ASIA 2024

Bellota Agrisolutions sales director, Mr Inigo Ascoz speaks with Far Eastern Agriculture at AGRITECHNICA & HORTI ASIA 2024, that took place from 22-24 May at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) in Bangkok, Thailand 

Mr Ascoz provides insight into the company's most popular products while also highlighting the significance of their presence at the event and their market growth over the recent years.

Can you give us some insight into your company?

Inigo Ascoz (IA): We are the biggest manufacturer of wear parts in the world. We have 11 manufacturing plants worldwide including Europe, the United States, Canada, India and Brazil, among others. We have two main divisions, namely the hand tools division and the agricultural wear parts division, which is based on Agrisolutions. Under Agrisolutions, we have different brands, with the main one being Bellota. Besides this, we have other brands and we also produce under customers’ brands. We are currently cooperating with more than 500 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide. The main ones are the biggest players in the market and all of them are customers from us. Moreover, we are also working with distributors for the aftermarket business.

What is the significance of the AGRITECHNICA ASIA show for Bellota in the Asian market?

Inigo Ascoz (IA): Well for us, the significance of course, is to partner with the main players, not only in Thailand, but also in Southeast Asia. 

Is this your first time exhibiting in Asia?

Inigo Ascoz (IA): No, this is the third time we have participated in this show. But in Thailand, yeah, this is the first. 

Which other trade shows have you attended in the past?

Inigo Ascoz (IA): At the moment, this is the only show we take part in within Asia. Of course, we have participated in the main shows like AGRITECHNICA in Germany and some other local shows in North America, Brazil and in different countries. I was also conversing with an AGRITECHNICA organiser and they were thinking of conducting some other shows in places in Southeast Asia. Well, that is definitely something we will consider. Our main purpose of being in this show is to get in touch with our current customers and have a look out for new customers, whether they are the OEMs or distributors in different markets in Southeast Asia.

Have you launched any new products recently or during the show?

Inigo Ascoz (IA): Yes, we do build and create new part numbers in the existing product lines and we are currently also into innovative long lasting solutions involving application with tungsten carbide technologies or higher resistance materials.

How is Bellota’s current market performance?

Inigo Ascoz (IA): Well, we are performing quite well. In terms of innovative solutions, the OEMs are usually more willing to adopt to this application, rather than the aftermarket.

Are your products targeted towards smallholder farmers or large scale farms?

Inigo Ascoz (IA): At the end of the day, we target the ones that are more sensitive to the quality of parts. They can either include large scale farmers, contractors or servicing companies. Since time is money for them, long lasting solutions serve as an important subject. 

What are the long and short term goals of the company and do you have any plans of expansion?

Inigo Ascoz (IA): We have been very active since 2008 and especially after 2014, we have been acquiring companies, either those that have provided us a wider product branch or a deeper product branch to be more specialist in the different product branches. We also acquire companies that provide us with new technologies to be applied to the existing product branch.

Do you offer training programmes and workshops to people of the younger generation?

Inigo Ascoz (IA): No, we of course train our own employees, but we mostly focus on training our customers by organising training courses with the sales force from our customers regarding the difference between our products and other products in the market, why our offer is premium, etc.

Which is currently your best selling product and who is your primary customer?

Inigo Ascoz (IA): Our best selling product is always the disc. It is considered a universal product since it is a type of product which is being used in all the continents, whereas you have some other products that are more specific for some countries. It is a big world and every market has different requirements. Our main customer is the OEM. They come to us for existing solutions or new solutions that we can provide to them.