Greenhouse monitoring solution
Established in 2013, Gremon is a Hungarian company which is providing agribusinesses with professional, innovative, and user-friendly decision support systems. By using this technology, growers are able to increase their yield which can be predicted by Gremon’s solution, improve profitability and take control of evaporation and light use efficiency. This real-time information helps to optimize the operation of different businesses, to reduce environmental pressure considerably, and to cut expenses.
Penetrating the Dutch market
After having gained an initial presence in their home territory, Gremon decided the time had come to scale internationally. Being one of the front runners in the agriculture domain, the Netherlands was high on Gremon’s priority list. The company started looking at their options to penetrate this market.
János Lóczi (President at Gremon Systems): “Initially, we were hesitant to get into a collaboration with an international partner. We had a general sales manager who was taking care of things and besides, the investors weren’t keen on such an arrangement. If we could do things by ourselves, this would be preferred. We tried employing experts directly and worked with a distributor, but soon came to notice that without a network it’s difficult to find the right people to talk to. Eventually, we decided that working with a sales outsourcing company made the most sense.”
Partner with a local knowledge
Gremon spoke to several service providers and decided to work with Aexus. Lóczi: “Among the reasons that Aexus ticked all the right boxes, is firstly, they are able to start the collaboration step by step. Everybody knows where they stand, everyone is agreed on the way forward and there’s flexibility in the strategy. Another factor where Aexus wins out is that they provide a very cost-efficient solution. The small retainer Aexus requires is easily justified in comparison with the costs of starting up our own operations in the Netherlands and hiring our own staff there, in which cases there’s always the risk of hiring the wrong person as well. Even if you hire the right person, they need to get acquainted with the company, need time to settle in, and need time to become successful. It is, as the saying goes, a ‘no-brainer’ to take on a company with feet on the ground in a market they understand. A company that employs natives, which know the local market and have an extensive network of contacts. They have been able to get our business up and running in a fraction of the time it would take us to do on our own.”
High level of trust
In the meantime, Gremon formed a strategic partnership with the leading data platform for the horticultural sector internationally, which is headquartered in the Netherlands, LetsGrow. Besides this, the company signed up several high-profile clients here. Lóczi: “Aexus plays an instrumental part in managing these relationships locally. They have competent staff who have a professional attitude. And, they never made a promise they couldn’t keep!”
It is this level of trust and honesty that keeps the relationship together. Lóczi: “We are planning to launch several new, highly innovative products and solutions in the near future. We are looking forward to introducing these in the Benelux and beyond. Obviously, together with Aexus.”