25-year anniversary of a. hartrodt Perú
In the crisis-hit South American country, customers appreciate products with added value.
"Our employees are our assets," emphasizes Nicky Corrochano, Managing Director at a. hartrodt Perú, based in Lima. Therefore, the national subsidiary celebrated a big party in January. "Our 25-year company anniversary was actually the previous September," he says. However, in 2022, first the pandemic thwarted all celebration plans, and since December a state crisis with street fighting has been escalating. Despite the political unrest, Nicky Corrochano wanted to thank all employees and give something back to them. He organized a party that was only slightly delayed and very well received.
Tenfold increase in sales despite economic instability
Nicky Corrochano has been working at a. hartrodt since 1999 and as Managing Director since 2007. Starting with about ten people and annual sales of the equivalent of 2.4 million euros, he has experienced "an enormous learning curve" and has increased sales tenfold to date despite economic instability. With six presidents in seven years, it has not been easy to "expand our business and create opportunities in the Peruvian market."
Milestones: own customs broker, Food & Beverage department
Regardless of all obstacles, Nicky Corrochano and his team have succeeded in developing a. hartrodt Péru's business. "We are constantly on the lookout for products with added value for our customers, to keep exceeding their expectations," he says. Among the milestones in the past quarter century, he counts the establishment of a dedicated customs broker in 2005 or the Food & Beverage division in 2012 with an annual volume of now circa 5,000 reefer containers. As another important step, he cites the establishment of the Control Tower department in 2019 for the fishmeal industry, which, thanks to the automation achieved, is able to handle now more than 15,000 containers per year with five experts.
The three branches in Lima, Callao and Paita have a combined annual throughput of 40,000 TEUs. In view of the crisis in the country, Nicky Corrochano's strategy is "to recover volume lost by focusing on our core business units".