(continued on next page) ADVERTORIAL 27 A wise man once taught that it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. In business terms, that means proactively developing and implementing strategies aimed not at merely minimizing problems, but creating solutions and forging by force of will if necessary, a stronger future. Enter J. Cobo, the leading commercial foodservice equipment supplier for export to the Latin American market. The June 2002 merger of the highly-respected J. Cobo with Greenfield World Trade of Miami, a premier supplier of commercial foodservice equipment and related services for the worldwide export market, created the industry’s largest commercial foodservice equipment export management company. It has been that combination of forces that has helped distributors across Latin America and the Caribbean stave off the troubled financial times and keep their eyes clearly focused on the growth opportunities ahead. Seeing The Light J. Cobo Lights the Way to a Brighter Tomorrow in Latin America and the Caribbean
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ADVERTORIAL 27
Awise man once taught that it is better to light a candle
than to curse the darkness. In business terms, that means
proactively developing and implementing strategies aimed
not at merely minimizing problems, but creating solutions
and forging by force of will if necessary, a stronger future.
Enter J. Cobo, the leading commercial foodservice equipment supplier for
export to the Latin American market.
The June 2002 merger of the highly-respected J. Cobo with Greenfield
World Trade of Miami, a premier supplier of commercial foodservice equipment
and related services for the worldwide export market, created the industry’s
largest commercial foodservice equipment export management company. It has
been that combination of forces that has helped distributors across Latin
America and the Caribbean stave off the troubled financial times and keep
their eyes clearly focused on the growth opportunities ahead.
Seeing The LightJ. Cobo Lights the Way to a
Brighter Tomorrow in Latin Americaand the Caribbean
ONE WORLD • ONE SOLUTION • ONE SOURCE28 www.jcobo.com
Greenfield represents a broad line of independent manufac-turers with complementary product lines, and grew out of prin-cipal Neal Asbury’s previous company, Asbury Worldwide.
“The whole concept and the idea of the merger was so goodand so obvious,” explains Asbury. “The synergies between thetwo organizations were there to create the largest export man-agement company with the number one marketshare in bothAsia and Latin America — which are two of the big exportmarkets. When Juan Cobo and I started talking about it, it hap-pened very quickly. It was one of these deals that didn’t take alot of time to put together because it was so perfect.”
RIGHT MOVE, RIGHT TIME
The joining of Greenfield and Cobo has proven more than sim-ply a boon to its principals and customers — it may have beena critical turning point in the fortunes of the region’s entirefoodservice and hospitality industry.
“I really believe that we are where we are now, in terms ofholding our own and holding our sales volume, due to themerger,” says Bill Eltringham, Vice President of J. Cobo and theman charged with overseeing business in South and CentralAmerica, the Caribbean and Europe. “If we were to go back intime and the two companies had not merged, I think both com-panies, would be substantially down.”
The merger, he continues, helped the combined entity gainmomentum and create important synergies. “There was a lot ofvery positive crossover between the Cobo and Greenfield lines.We really put together one of the most dynamite packages thatan export management company could possibly have, and thatreally helped us to leverage up the volume.”
Thomas McPeck, Vice President of Sales and Marketing forCanada, the US, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central Americafor Jackson, MS-based manufacturer Robot Coupe, says, “Ifyour export management company has a good product mix —which Cobo does, by the way — and you have a good strongpresence with market identification through your products,that market does stay rather stable. There will be up and downmovement, but you’re going to get some base business.”
The Greenfield/Cobo merger “brought good lines from eachcompany,” says McPeck. “As a result, they’re a much stronger
player in the Latin American and world markets. They builtbetter distributor/dealer loyalty.”
“Until recently we were kind of stumbling down there, untilthe merger,” says Dave Ek, President and CEO of LangManufacturing. “We’ve largely been absent in those territories.It’s been Cobo’s and Greenfield’s task to get us out in front ofpeople so they know who we are. Now we’re starting to seemore activity, more quoting, more projects going on thatthey’re bringing us into. They’re great partners.”
At present, Lang’s emphasis is on, as Ek puts it, “seeding theterritory with information on our products, and doing moretraining with the Cobo team. We’re seeing more activity inMexico.” While predictions must be offered carefully, he adds,“anything will be an improvement over what’s been going on(across Latin America) in recent years. Everyone remains opti-mistic. We’re seeing more activity on all levels now.”
PRAISE FROM ACROSS THE REGION
Tecnogas del Norte, S.A. de C.V. in Monterrey, Mexico, is adistributor that also manufactures signs, custom-made tablesand equipment, and does consulting. Says General DirectorRogelio Lopez Cantu, “We buy some products from J. Cobo tomake the complete kitchen.”
Lopez has worked with Cobo for many years, “and worked
well,” he emphasizes. “They give us great support and they han-dle very good brands. In fact, I think they have the best brands,and they provide us with enormous support.” Cobo’s mergerwith Greenfield has proven “awesome,” he believes. “I knewboth companies before they made the agreement. They bothbrought many important things to share. I know they makegood decisions. They are serious about their business.”
Cesáreo Veiga Caridad, General Manager of 25-year-old dis-tributor Cavimex del Norte S.A. de C.V. in Monterrey,Mexico, lauds the deal for having made the company “morepowerful, with more brands to offer and better service.” Veiga,who has been associated with J. Cobo for two decades, workswith chains like Quizno’s, KFC, McDonald’s and others,including hospitals. Related companies manufacture espressomachines and other restaurant equipment.
Juan Vasquez, Export Sales Manager and Special Accounts
“We’ve largely been absent in those territories. It’s been Cobo’s and Greenfield’s task to getus out in front of people so they know who we are. Now we’re starting to see more activity,more quoting, more projects going on that they’re bringing us into. They’re great partners.”
— Dave Ek, Pres. & CEO, Lang Manufacturing Co.
ADVERTORIAL
30 www.jcobo.com
for The Broaster Co. in Beloit, WI, says his company is dedi-cated to growth through its relationship with J. Cobo. “Theyare the front line for the Broaster Co.,” he insists. “We areworking with them into every single country in Central andSouth America and the Caribbean.”
He and his executives simply “don’t have the manpower tobe traveling all the time. They have excellent relationshipswith the distributors in these countries,” adds Vasquez. “Theyare able to develop business for us, and give us the results welook for.”
Nor has the combined entity grown so large that it has lostthe ability to listen and respond to its customers. “I like themvery much,” says Mario Bali of Bali Parts in Mexico City,Mexico, referring to J. Cobo’s management team. “You can talkto them. They understand, and they want to do business withyou. They care about you, and that’s very important to me.”
CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM
Just as important is the ability to see through current obstaclesand plot a course toward the future.
“Obviously Latin America right now, particularly SouthAmerica, is really in shambles,” says J. Cobo’s Eltringham.“Argentina particulary is still feeling the pain, and Uruguay, asthey say, is sort of Argentina’s little sister. Brazil continues to be avery protected market, with an extensive amount of local manu-facturing. So as far as the American foodservice equipment busi-ness goes right now, it has really shut down in those countries. “
Bright spots, however, remain. Colombia, notes Eltringham,“seems to be on the right track now. Colombians are pleasedwith the new president, Alvaro Uribe, so there is some opti-mism. Hopefully things will start to come back a little bit. Butstill it’s a tough market.”
Central America, for J. Cobo and Greenfield, has alwaysbeen a fairly stable market. The recession continues, particu-larly in Panama where the hospitality industry has felt the pull-out of the American troops. “That’s going to have a long-termeffect down there,” says Eltringham, “and it’s led to an overallcontraction in the market.”
Overall, however, the Central American markets remainstable, free of the big upswings or downswings still occurringnot that far away. J. Cobo sales manager Ramon Egues travelsthere on a regular basis. “He’s in the territory at least one weeka month,” says Eltringham. “His next trip is down toGuatemala and El Salvador.”
ONE WORLD • ONE SOLUTION • ONE SOURCE
ADVERTORIAL
“Cobo has excellent relationshipswith the distributors in these
countries. They are able to develop business for us, and give
us the results we look for.” — Juan Vasquez, Export Sales Manager and
Special Accounts, The Broaster Co.
W hile the business climate inCaribbean markets like the
Bahamas, Barbados, the DominicanRepublic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and theVirgin Islands remains less than ener-getic, the signs are hopeful and theprospects looking good. The sun, as itwere, continues to shine.
“It is coming back a little bit,” notes J.Cobo’s Eltringham. “Obviously tourism washit real hard. But there is a big project goingon right now which we’ve been in on, theSandals White house in White House,Jamaica. It’s a major multi-million-dollarfoodservice project, so that’s exciting.”
The Caribbean consists basically of threemajor markets: Jamaica, The DominicanRepublic and Puerto Rico. Of the three, says
Eltringham, Puerto Rico is “a market we puta lot of emphasis on. Manny Zevallos is downthere right now; he just did training for theCurtis line we represent with the island’slargest coffee roaster.”
A chain out of New York calledGoodfellow’s is making good inroads intothe Caribbean market, according to WoodStone’s Keith Carpenter. He calls the marketthere “pretty strong, really. People are stilltaking vacations, and no one’s going toEurope because of safety.”
Latin America in general is experienc-ing “a challenging time right now,” saysLori Barger, International Sales Managerfor TRAEX. “There’s been some slowdownfor a variety of reasons — increased com-petition is one, as well as some of the
political and economic situations in thedifferent areas.”
TRAEX is “actually doing pretty well inLatin America,” Barger continues, “pri-marily because we’re putting a focus on it.When it gets a little tougher some peopleretreat and focus elsewhere. But we’rerefocusing more on Latin America.”
Though most of that focus is in Mexico,she emphasizes that all of South America isshowing signs of an imminent recovery.TRAEX people have been traveling more,hitting markets more often with both cur-rent and prospective customers. As for theCaribbean, says Barger, “It’s doing reason-ably well. I think that with tourism downthey’re feeling a little challenged now.We’re trying to increase travel there, too.”
The Caribbean
32 www.jcobo.com
MEXICO: A SHINING LIGHT
Industry insiders are unanimous in their view that Mexicoremains the key to Latin America’s return. As Eltringhampoints out, “It’s really the shining light right now in the territo-ry, and it’s what I think is holding everything together.”
The fundamentals of the marketplace “are there,” hebelieves. “I don’t think we’re going to see any devaluations ormajor swings in the market. What’s happening right now inMexico is that it tends to mirror the US market. If everybody’stalking about the recession in the States then the Mexicans aretalking about the same thing.”
Despite that, he notes, the industry is seeing several projectscoming back on line in Mexico, including the Ritz-Carlton inCancun and the Palmilla Hotel in Cabo San Lucas, both ofwhich are being heavily bid. J. Cobo’s convenience store busi-ness there continues to be “absolutely dynamite,” he notes, par-ticularly with the Oxxo chain.
Mexico is “growing very fast because of the NAFTA agree-ment,” says Lopez. “Many companies from the US and Canadahave come to the Mexican market. They come with the need forpeople like us to give them complete kitchen design services.”
“There are lots of convenience stores down there,” notesTom Dirkx, director of International Sales for Star
Manufacturing in St. Louis, MO. “A lot of our equipment lendsitself to those environments — hot dog machines, cheesepumps for nachos, merchandising cabinets for cookies andsandwiches. It’s an exciting market for us.” The company sellsto major c-store chains including 7-Eleven and Oxxo there.
Dirkx says a great many operators in Mexico have moved upinto the 21st century. “They’re upgrading all over. The econo-my is better, and the peso is fairly stable against the dollar eversince (Vicente) Fox became president. There is more confi-dence among consumers and investors in and out of Mexico.”
Much of the credit is the growth of the nation’s middle class.As he notes, “These people, for the first time, really want to
Commercial Foodservice Equipment Parts Distributor
One World...
One Source...
One Solution
“The Greenfield/Cobo mergerbrought good lines from eachcompany. As a result, they're a
much stronger player in the LatinAmerican and world markets.” — Thomas McPeck, Vice President of Sales &
Marketing, Robot Coupe USA.
34 www.jcobo.com
indulge a little bit. A nice cup of coffee at Starbucks. A hot dogat Oxxo. In the past it simply wasn’t in the budget. Now it is.”
Dining out has frankly suffered, says Cavimex’s Veiga. “Theproblem is we have a lot of people in Mexico, and 50% of themearn less than $500 a month. Most of them don’t eat out at all, orthey eat in local-type places.” Growth, he believes, will come fromthe hotels that are “sprouting up all over Mexico. They’re build-ing new ones and renovating others. We’re involved in several ofthose projects, including a major one in Cancun.”
Dexter T. Laughlin, President of Champion Industries, hasobserved an improvement in sales in Latin America and is opti-mistic. “The professionalism and excellence demonstrated byCobo-Greenfield has helped set Champion, Bi-Line and Aladdinapart from all others. Their ability to emphasize the quality andperformance of our equipment has resulted in an increased aware-ness and sales in the Latin American market. With the partner-ship with Cobo-Greenfield and our three companies, we expectthis trend to continue in the years ahead,” said Laughlin.
AN ‘EXCELLENT BUSINESS’ “The last years were not the best,” admits Pablo AndradeChalve, General Director of Losemex in Mexico City, Mexico,“but I think we are going in a very good way with a lot of invest-ments from international players. Most of the American fast-food chains are here or coming.”
Hospitality remains “an excellent business,” says Andrade ofthe Mexican market. “We are very important in terms oftourism, so we’re the second industry after oil companies. Wehave to be very, very focused on our second business in Mexico.We have a lot of beaches and big cities, so we have to providethem with the necessary infrastructure.”
Convenience stores and supermarkets, each of which cancontain fast-food concepts, are also proliferating quickly, andproviding additional business. Supermarkets, in particular, mayhave multiple kitchen operations within their walls — accord-ing to Andrade. A single store could include a main kitchenand as many as three or four satellite set-ups for concessions.
More upscale concepts, like The Palm Steakhouse, are also
ONE WORLD • ONE SOLUTION • ONE SOURCE
ADVERTORIAL
That J. Cobo is the best at what it does may rank as one of theleast-kept secrets in all of foodservice. The list of vendors itrepresents reads like a Who’s Who among equipment and sup-plies manufacturers. To date, the list includes such names as:
Partners In Excellence
Hickory
“The professionalism and excellence demonstrated by Cobo
and Greenfield has helped setChampion, Bi-Line, and Aladdin
apart from all others.”— Dexter T. Laughlin, President,
Champion Industries
36 www.jcobo.com
making their presence felt. “There is an opportunity there at thehigh class business,” Andrade notes. “There are also importantinvestments in hotels like Marriotts and others. We’re almost100-million people, and 5% of the population are rich people.That means we have more (of them) than many countries inEurope, for example.” J. Cobo is “our main partner in Mexico,” headds. “We have a very strong relationship with them.”
“Nobody is growing in Mexico right now,” says SergioPeña, General Director of Cideyco in Mexico City. An excep-tion is Hoteles Camino Real, a five-star hotelier with a “quiteaggressive program to grow, but the economy is not so goodright now. Everything is on hold for the moment.” Peña does,however, join in the mounting optimism. “I’ve heard that theAmerican economy is becoming better. I trust it will reflect in
the Mexican economy, as well.” Peña calls Cideyco “kind of a unique company. We sell pro-
grams like Broaster, a fried chicken program. We also dokitchen design; in fact, we say that’s our specialty, kitchendesign for hotels. We are also distributors. We promote linesand have our own dealer network.” Other clients include super-markets and hospitals.
“Mexico is improving; it has stabilized and stayed strong, butthe Caribbean has been kind of quiet,” says Robot Coupe’sMcPeck. “They’re still trying to come back from 9/11. Theyhaven’t had the same occupancy rates down there.” His companysells mostly to chain and mid-scale to upscale independent restau-rants. The fine dining segment “seems to be very good, or at leaststable,” McPeck notes, although capital expenditures have slowed.
ONE WORLD • ONE SOLUTION • ONE SOURCE
ADVERTORIAL
“They're upgrading all over. The economy is better, and the peso is fairly stable against thedollar ever since (Vicente) Fox became president. There is more confidence among
consumers and investors in and out of Mexico.” — Tom Dirkx, Director of International Marketing, Star Manufacturing
38 www.jcobo.com
McPeck remains guardedly optimistic. “I look for it to be a‘so goes our economy’ situation. Mexico will be first to rebound.We’ve been doing a little bit in El Salvador, and in Guatemala.The rest of it is still feeling the economic impact of the reces-sion period here.”
Bali says his partnership with J. Cobo in the wake of itsmerger with Greenfield is paying off handsomely. “I am sell-ing equipment and parts that Cobo didn’t handle until themerger, so it’s been very beneficial for us.” He handles lineslike Robot Coupe, Star, and T&S.
Indications seem to be that Mexico is “going to be tight”says Bali, “but we really don’t know. Everything changesfrom day to day in Mexico City.” His market includesCancun, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Manzanillo and LosCabos. He says he is starting to sell to chains like Wal-Mart
and Comercial Mexicana in addition to his business withfull-service restaurant chains like VIP’s and Toks and con-venience stores like Oxxo.
LOOKING HOPEFULLY AHEAD
Optimism born of smart decisions, strong relationships andplain old hard work is growing.
Broaster’s Vasquez sees a “big comeback” ahead in LatinAmerica, and a big year ahead for his own company throughits work with chain accounts. “For example, Pio Pio inPanama is a successful chicken chain. We sell them equip-ment.” A similar relationship exists with the Koko Rico chainin Colombia, Chicken Kingdom in Bolivia and Chefetterestaurants in Barbados.
Puerto Rico has always been a market J. Cobo and
ONE WORLD • ONE SOLUTION • ONE SOURCE
ADVERTORIAL
“TRAEX is actually doing pretty well in Latin America, primarily because we're putting afocus on it. When it gets a little tougher some people retreat and focus elsewhere.
But we're refocusing more on Latin America.” — Lori Barger,International Sales Manager, TRAEX
Greenfield have “hit hard,” says Eltringham. “We travel therefour to six times a year. Manny does very well with large deal-ers there, and we do a lot of government projects. We also workwith the medium and small-size guys. We probably have 25dealers in Puerto Rico, and for an island of that size it contin-
ues to amaze me that there’s that much business there.” Keith Carpenter, Sr., vice president of Bellingham, WA-
based oven manufacturer Wood Stone Corp., feels his rela-tionship with J. Cobo is “going to help us tremendously” dur-ing the year ahead. True, he says, there are South Americaneconomies still having trouble, “but there are still people
down there with money, buying and opening restaurants.”Among the Latin American nations from which WoodStone has received the best response are Colombia, Peru,Venezuela and Chile.
McPeck says that for the year ahead he “definitely sees anincrease in business, in dollar volume. But the key player downhere is going to be Mexico. The Caribbean will be back in2004, also, probably this winter.”
“I think the biggest growth is in the fast-food chains, likePopeyes and Sonic,” says Lopez. “We see how they are growing,how many stores they are opening. It is impressive.” The econo-my, he adds, “will be better this year, and the same next year.”
“We’re traveling aggressively,” Eltringham concludes. “Wehave great relationships with our distributors and dealersthroughout the territory, and we want to continue to be a majorforce in the marketplace. We’re doing everything we can toplay at that level.”
Clearly, the dealers out in the territories are taking notice. J.Cobo made what Eltringham refers to as a “nice splash” atAbastur last year, “and we’re going to be repeating that thisyear. We’re just raising the bar in terms of what export man-agement is all about.” ◆
ADVERTORIAL
“Juan Cobo is a dynamite guy who has built a great
organization. He has providedtremendous assistance as far as
Wood Stone is concerned.”— Keith Carpenter, Sr., Vice President,
Wood Stone Corp.
The global team at
J. Cobo
is dedicated to providing
excellence in support,
quality without compromise
&
innovative solutions for all
of your food service
requirements.
Design AssistanceComplete Equipment PackagesCustom FabricationConsolidationWarehousingFreight Forwarding and Shipping
Products & Services for the Global Market
J. Cobo provides the world’s leading commercial food serviceequipment, supplies and related services for the global market.
Export DocumentationImportationDelivery to SiteInstallationStart-up, Demonstration and TrainingWarranty, Parts and Service
AladdinIndustry leader in providing Insulated Tray Systems and mealdelivery solutions for hospitals and other institutional customers.
ArcticArctic offers quality refrigeration products and excellent serviceprovided at a competitive price.
Bar MaidWorld renown manufacturer of portable, electric glass washers.
The Broaster CompanyThe genuine Broaster fast food chicken system produceshigh quality pressure fried or rotisserie cooked product.License only requires the use of genuine Broaster products.
Champion/Bi-LineThe dishwashing machine specialist and Bi-line Systems, acustom manufacturer of stainless steel foodservice andwarewashing conveyors.
Chicago MetallicTHE BAKEWARE COMPANYA major player in the manufacture of in-stock baking pansfor foodservice, supermarket, and retail bakery shops.
Crystal TipsWorld class ice machines utilizing today’s leading technology
DoughProRevolutionizing the pizza and tortilla industry with a completeline of dough presses, tortilla griddles and complementary items.
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General Slicing/Red GoatThe world leader in slicers, choppers, mixers, vegetable cutters,bone saws and heavy duty food waste disposal equipment.
HickoryQuality manufacturer of commercial rotisseries and barbeques for the foodservice and retail markets.
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LakesideHigh quality provider of transporting, bussing, storage, dis-pensing, delivery, housekeeping and janitorial equipment.
LangExcellence in cooking technology for all commercial kitchenapplications including ovens, proofers, griddles, broilers,ranges and fryers. Also specializing in marine applications.
LegionWorld Class manufacturers of cookers, kettles, tiltingskillets, cookware, chafers, and buffetware.
Marshall AirEngineered expertise in conveyorized broilers, toasters,food warming units, and ventilation units.
Robot CoupeThe world leader in commercial food processors, verti-cal cutter mixers, power mixers, blixers and extractors.
Star/HolmanA complete line of countertop equipment and pizza ovensproviding excellent value and outstanding performance.
T & SBrass and Bronze Works, Inc.The single source solution for every plumbing and com-ponent application (World Wide - excluding Europe).
TomlinsonThe world's foremost manufacturer of faucets and fittingsfor dispensing a wide range of beverages.
