Crary Industries Reels in Brazilian Business Partner

Crary Industries, based in West Fargo, ND is a manufacturer of agricultural harvesting attachments including the Air Reel® and Wind System® that attach to soybean combine headers to minimize grain losses during harvesting. Crary was looking to identify an international distributor in Brazil and reached out to the U.S. Commercial Service office in Fargo, ND (Heather Ranck), who facilitated a connection with CS Belo Horizonte’s Agribusiness Commercial Specialist Vania Resende. 

After consulting with Crary regarding their objectives, Vania approached the largest local soybean growers, associations, and agricultural machinery dealers to confirm the viability of Brazil as a potential market for Crary’s systems. Based on positive feedback from this initial outreach, Crary proceeded with an International Partner Search (IPS) and virtual appointments, where Vania reached out to thirteen different Brazilian potential partners to gather feedback and seek partners that could represent Crary’s equipment in the Brazilian market. The IPS report was delivered in December 2021, with many virtual introductions happening soon thereafter. During the IPS process, Crary received many direct approaches from individual Brazilian soybean growers and dealers, interested in buying company’s systems. In January 2022, Crary reached an international agreement with a Brazilian agricultural equipment distributor that will be responsible to introduce, market and distribute Crary equipment in Brazil. As a result, the first units of Wind Systems® were shipped to Brazil in February 2022 to begin the process of field demonstrations.

“Having done business in Brazil previously, I am keenly aware of the difficulty and hurdles involved in locating the right business partner required to properly enter the Brazilian market,” said David McIntyre, Director of Latin American Sales for Crary. “When we felt the time was right to put focus on Brazil, my first thought was to contact Heather Ranck at the U.S. Commercial Service office in Fargo, ND. I’ve known Heather for a number of years and have always found her advice, knowledge, and insights regarding the best ways to approach foreign markets as very valuable and accurate. For me, arranging the International Partner search and virtual appointments was the best and most logical first step. Heather’s associate in Brazil, Vânia Resende, using her contacts and knowledge of the Brazilian agriculture industry, worked tirelessly to connect us with qualified, interested, and serious candidates. I highly recommend their services; they can often save a company many months of frustrating and too often unfruitful efforts in finding a viable partner.”