GInter has recently opened a new operation in Miami and acquired Coco’s International in Florida to support the company’s household goods business in the region.
The company originally expanded from its home in Brazil in 2011 when it opened a representative office in Miami to service its DSP and relocation customers. Five years later it branched out to include logistics services and has now completed the picture with international household goods.
Patrick Ohara, GInter’s International Director, said that the poor economy in Brazil had helped its logistics business that provides a range of fulfilment services primarily for Brazilian companies selling goods through Ebay and Amazon. “The weak currency in Brazil has made Brazilian-made products cheaper on the world market which is increasing sales abroad,” he said. “The poor economy has also created an oversupply of goods in Brazil which manufacturers are able to sell in the USA.”
In Brazil, GInter has a large corporate account base for international household goods movements. However, the economic difficulties have created a steady flow of private individuals moving to Florida which is popular with many Latin American families. Patrick said that in Miami they were able to achieve a much higher closing ratio for private moves than was possible in Brazil.
In May last year GInter acquired the assets of Coco’s International, run by Macarena Scalia. Macarena’s family, and the Granaro family that owns GInter, have a long history going back over 30 years. “We had worked with Coco’s before and know the quality of their service,” said Patrick. “The company had a good reputation and, as an independent organisation, was not related to any van lines. It was a very good fit for us and we are delighted that Macarena has joined our sales department to help us grow the business.”
GInter now has a 22,000 sq ft (1,850 sq met) warehouse in a primary location in Doral, near the airport, railways and road connections, and plenty of space to expand as the company grows.
The company is heavily engaged in providing move management services throughout Latin America for RMCs and having a US location is a great benefit. Patrick explained that it was far more tax efficient to operate from the USA for moves within South America than it was to work from Brazil. “If we were to work from Brazil we would incur much higher taxes for services within Latin America that do not involve Brazil,” he said. “We worked together with KPMG for Tax Advisory, which was not cheap, but gives us peace of mind for compliance for us, clients and partners.” Being in Miami is also a benefit to the company’s RMC customers as they can invoice another US-based company. Also Patrick said that any traffic routed through the Miami office from overseas agents would be considered for reciprocation from Brazil that is rich with outbound traffic.
GInter frequently wins tonnage awards from PAIMA and OMNI demonstrating its ability to book and control business. When its Brazil office joined OMNI six years ago it became the first ever company to join OMNI and win its regional tonnage award in the same year. GInter also tops the PAIMA tonnage listing.
Patrick believes that being members of the global associations, and attending conferences, is very important for the success of the organisation. “It’s important to be members of our regional associations,” said Patrick. “LACMA is a very powerful organisation and PAIMA continues to grow with great members and is also very cost effective as they have their conference immediately before IAM in the same hotel. “It’s more relaxed than IAM so it helps to arrive early and also we can have several meetings to free up the IAM agenda.”
Patrick also said that OMNI membership had been extremely important for the company as a whole. “We started with companies that we hadn’t worked with before and OMNI gave us the opportunity of demonstrating how much tonnage we controlled. It’s been very good value for money for us.” He also commented that OMNI was a great forum to learn from some of the top leaders in the industry. “It’s great for me to get access to that knowledge. There is a lot of experience shared and I really appreciate it.”