Mendizábal Group It has a clear objective: to represent and bring brands of high global value to the Argentine market. One of the success cases is Stanleyleveraged in the ritual of the mate, and previously they had done it with the mammars Advent and breastfeeding.
Facundo MendizábalPresident and owner of Grupo Mendizabal, explains that it is essential to work with brands that provide quality value. In addition to Stanley, the group represents and markets products from Philips Avent, Edding, Chicco, Lamy, Pritt, Tesa and some Unilever brands, such as Dove and Impulse.
News: What analysis do they perform from the group on 2024 in terms of growth and billing?
Facundo Mendizábal: Our 2024 is clearly divided into two parts. It started a much more uncertain and more uncertainty year. We were a little in the expectation of what was going to happen, and ended with the most orderly macroeconomic situation, the variables are starting to see a little better, inflation has been going down, which allowed it to Commerce will begin to have a slightly clearer horizon.
The second semester began to return credit in the market and that helped commercialization. Among all the brands we handled, Stanley was the one that grew the most this year, mainly driven in the last semester.
In total of the year we are closing Stanley numbers with a 30% growth in units. I mainly believe that because of the strategy we have taken to open our own commercial premises with a federal look. During this year we open official stores in Cordova and Neuquén. The rest of the brands most linked to mass consumption, suffered a little more the consequence of the deterioration of purchasing power during the first semester and began to grow a little towards the end of the year.
News: How do you identify opportunities from various brands and adapt them to the local market? What were the greatest success cases in this regard in recent years?
Facundo Mendizábal: We talk about a word we call “Glocal”, This is a global vision with local adaptability. So, We are looking for brands that appear in different parts of the world with high value in what they give to the consumer, and we represent them and bring them to Argentina. We are looking for local adaptability, in some with more influence, in others with a little less, and they have more to do with the type of service we give to the consumer.
The most successful cases we have had first advent, with breastfeeding and products for children, and in the last ten years, with Stanley, which mainly in Argentina is a brand closely related to the ritual of the mate and became iconic. Stanley in the rest of the world also grew a lot, focused on consumption for day to day with accompanying the consumer to stay hydrated or keep his drink either cold or hot. We in Argentina for a long time worked around the ritual of the mate and also a year ago we are working on everything that is hydration. The value of the brand in Argentina is greatly given by the mate and with Messi and its assessment towards the mate we are taking more and more steps in that regard.
News: How does the idea of creating a collection together with Messi appear and what was the reception of the line in the Argentine market?
Facundo Mendizábal: The idea of creating a collection with Messi is because Stanley became a much more daily use brand, since it came from being a brand much more related to the outdoor and now they call it the “outside”. Outdoor because it was more for the campsite and for the mountain, now it is the outside because it is for daily use. In that sense, Stanley has been collaborating with several celebrities worldwide.
Messi has been identified with the brand or has been using Stanley. Then the brand approach with our idol was almost naturally.
Messi is one of the most important personalities worldwide. In addition, the launch has had an impact on very strong social networks. Memes or sketches are viral. The last one is walking through the pool of his house and the truth that all the proposals of memes that were generalized are very funny. It is great that the consumer or that the public takes this as their own and makes a kind of conversation with both Messi and the brand. The result we are having since the last month is reflected in what has been the sale of Christmas and the sale of December.
News: How do the situation of import opening and the possibility of buying through different platforms abroad?
Facundo Mendizábal: Well, we first agree with the commercial opening and with which the consumer has more option to what he buys. I conceptually seem fantastic that Argentina joins international trade. On our side, In addition to the product we offer the customer a service to choose us. We add product service availability, which often has to do with credit options, diversity of the offer, customize your product and with the immediacy in delivery.
If we also surprised that making the accounts of what a product brought from the outside costs by a platform, when you join both the expenses of dispatch and transfer is very even with the local price. On the other hand, Many of the products that we sell in Argentina, and that the consumer wants, have been designed for the local public, such as the bariver cap, the mate system and the bulb for mate, all these products are not found in the rest of the world.
News: What are the objectives of the group for this 2025?
Facundo Mendizábal: We are in a consolidation process. The company grew and grows both in Argentina and in the region. Two years ago we are regionalizing ourselves in Central America and in Argentina we have some brands that are also new in our portfolio, such as Edding, Chicco and Historically Advent and some Unilever products. We have places to continue growing in our Stanley generalization, we have plans to open in other provinces and another in Federal Capital. I think it will be a year to continue working in costs, efficiency and establishing itself.
It can be a first year where inflation is lower, We have to strengthen the company in many things that are new as we have been working, we have products that we believe can be for Argentina.
It is also a year to be very attentive because there will be concrete opportunities for Argentine businessmen who want to continue investing in the country. Many brands and many companies are seeing what happens in Argentina.
News: Is there any product since it is being managed to leave in 2025?
Facundo Mendizábal: Stanley, for example, there is a product that we are going to launch, which is a joint development yerbera with Stanley International to complete the mate equipment. We continue innovating to complete the Matero set. Also We have just launched another more conducive mate model to tereréthis is a recent launch that was a bit “eclipsed” with the Messi collection, but that people are also adopting it.
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