Af Mikael Sand
LANDMECO is active in around 40 countries around the world, and one market in particular is extra important when it comes to reaching the goals of the company’s growth strategy.
It is the American market. The man who heads the sale of LANDMECO’s facility for the production of eggs is named Alex Dybdal.
He says that LANDMECO has been visible in the US via a dealer for the past five to six years, but there is such a great potential in the US that LANDMECO is stepping up its efforts.
At the end of 2022, American Tom Barragy was hired, and the goal is to hire one more salesperson.
“We want to continue in the American market, and that cannot be done from Denmark. A new seller must have the same knowledge of the market and an equally good network as Tom has. There is no doubt that if we are to succeed and grow in the American market, local presence is simply the most important thing,” says Alex Dybdal, who makes the trip from Ølgod in Denmark to the USA every month to meet customers and business partners.
Alex Dybdal is more than satisfied with the development that has taken place for LANDMECO in the USA over the past year and a half.
“It’s going really well in the US. We have a good grasp of the market and are currently running above our budget. It just shows that the persistence we show by being present, ready with support and being there for the customers both today, tomorrow and in a year, has borne fruit,” says LANDMECO’s Regional Sales Director.
Alex Dybdal’s assessment is that American consumers – just like consumers elsewhere in the world – have become much more focused on animal welfare. Therefore, LANDMECO’s facility for egg production, which is based exclusively on free-range hens, fits very well with the trend of the times and the Americans.
“As I see it, we have only just scratched the surface when it comes to development potential in the USA. There is a much greater potential, and I am sure that we are ready to take our share of that cake,” says Alex Dybdal.
That expectation is based on several different parameters.
“Our production and back office in Denmark are geared up and ready when we grow in the American market. And at least as important is that we have the right product and are competitive on price and quality. And then we have the industry’s shortest delivery time for a new plant. Last but not least, we have a unique product where the owner has physical access to the facility. No one else in the industry can offer that,” says the Sales Director.
When Tom Barragy gets a colleague, their and Alex Dybdal’s tasks will be, among other things, to find the right business partners. “I am completely confident that we will solve this task perfectly. There are so many egg producers in the US and there is a big difference in how big they are. For us, it is, among other things, about finding the manufacturers who have the right size in relation to the unique plants that we at LANDMECO offer. One of the areas we will also look into is finding business partners who can offer turn key solutions. So we have many exciting and big tasks ahead of us on the American market,” says Alex Dybdal.
And if there is one person who has insight into exactly the right equipment for egg producers, it is Alex Dybdal.
He was born in Ølgod, and when he was a boy, he earned his first money by catching chickens at LANDMECO.
Initially, however, he chose to say goodbye to Ølgod. He is a trained freight forwarder, but it was not the right industry for him.
“So I got an offer to become a salesperson at LANDMECO. I agreed to that, and I’ve been there ever since,” he says, adding that he was part owner of LANDMECO for a period.
“In 2007, Søren Andersen, the founder of LANDMECO, died. In this connection, Søren Andersen’s son, Karsten Andersen, the then production manager and I took over LANDMECO.”
In 2018, LANDMECO was sold to an investment company, and today Alex Dybdal is Regional Sales Director with responsibility for the American layer market.