Continuing our series of blog posts about our SoftExpert units around the world, it’s time for you to get to know another of our subsidiaries in Europe. We recently published a story about our UK unit here, now it’s time to talk about SoftExpert’s Iberia office.
Want to know how we started this operation and how we operate there? Read on!
The subsidiary began operations in 2019 in Madrid, the capital and largest city in Spain, and Barcelona, one of the world’s main tourist, economic, commercial and cultural centers. Over time, it expanded its operations throughout Europe. Neighboring regions, such as Portugal and Portuguese-speaking African countries, were also included in the branch’s operations.
In addition to tourism, which accounts for a large part of Spain’s revenues, the economy is based on exporting cars, pharmaceuticals and petroleum products.
The food and beverage sector is also extremely important in the country, and was one of the few segments that grew in 2020, despite the crisis caused by the pandemic. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the GDP related to agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing grew 4.7% in 2020.
Spain is an important producer of grapes, citrus fruit, wine and olive oil. Fishing is also an important economic activity, and the country has the largest fishing fleet in the world.
SoftExpert’s strategy was aimed at precisely this market, even before it began operating on the Iberian Peninsula. After two years of operations, the company has already signed on more than 15 customers, including giants in the sector such as Grupo Calvo, Pescanova and Unilever.
Other segments with opportunities and that drive the economy are the pharmaceutical and automotive industries. In fact, two market leaders contracted SoftExpert solutions in 2021: Bridgestone and InsudPharma. We spoke to the CEO of SoftExpert Iberia, Marcus Ernst, who has been with the company for over 20 years and has been in charge of the subsidiary since it started the operations in Madrid.
Marcus points out that these sectors saw growth and gained strength during the pandemic, mainly due to an increase in consumption during periods of isolation, and due to the interruption of some external supply chains. “In contrast to most companies, we intensified our actions and investments during the pandemic, betting on a “V-shaped” recovery of the market, as a competitive differential.”
SoftExpert, which already had a well-defined strategy to serve this market, was able to quickly deliver specific solutions to the food and beverage sector. The CEO also highlights the automotive sector, which is reinventing itself and providing many opportunities, as the SoftExpert Suite package has unique features to satisfy the demands of this market.
“In addition to the major players conquered in such a short time of operation, which demonstrates the maturity of the company and its solutions, we have established strategic alliances with more than 10 companies in the region, including BakerTilly, one of the world’s leading networks of accounting and consulting firms.”
The expectation, according to Marcus, is to see triple-digit annual growth. He stresses the importance of working together with other operations on the European continent, emphasizing that global strength with local service is the organization’s differential.
We recently talked about the importance of the continent for SoftExpert’s business here, which saw a 30% growth in exports and is projected to grow 70% in 2022.
“Every day at our unit we have new challenges, customers from different cultures and a whole market to explore. I am very proud to be part of another chapter in the company’s history, which will certainly reap the fruit of this work in the coming years,” he concludes.
Are you enjoying this series that talks about SoftExpert’s operations around the world?
If you didn’t read the first blog post in the series about our unit in the UK, click here to read it now.
Be sure to read the upcoming blog posts about our subsidiaries!
