Deosan Dairy Farming Hygiene Solutions
With a background in wine technology and food engineering, Rodrigo joined Diversey in 2004. For four years, Rodrigo worked with dairy farms, especially in the south of the country, where the farms tend to be larger. In 2010, he started a new position as Key Account Manager for the beverage sector in Portugal, including Wine Iberia, as well as supporting the Diversey marketing department for Portugal.
Working in the Dairy farm sector has shown Rodrigo the challenges dairy farmers can face. The milk price received by farmers in Portugal is under the European average, although slightly increasing recently, and it is difficult to balance this with cost inputs, with feed being the largest input cost for dairy farmers in the country.
“We saw a 90% reduction in the number of operating dairy farms between 1989 and 2014, while the average number of animals on farm has increased from 4 - 34. It is the resilient farmers who have survived, those who are focussed on producing a better product for the industry through a combination of professionalism and innovation,” he adds.
“As a whole, I believe we are producing a very good product in Portugal. Naturally, there is some variation across the 5-6 sub-regions, and it is possible to identify the origin of the milk, based upon this. For a small country like Portugal, this diversity is pretty interesting.”
Rodrigo believes that improved information flow has enabled a deeper understanding and faster learning of dairy farming opportunities by Portuguese dairy farmers.
“Thirty years ago, Portugal was a small, closed country, and now dairy farmers are learning from elsewhere around the world, even on a smaller scale. Over a span of 40 years, the country has achieved a good average milk production of 7 tonnes/cow/year, which is bigger than the European average, meaning it is now possible to compete with farmers in the rest of Europe.
At Diversey, Rodrigo’s role is to gather and circulate information and technical support to colleagues and distributors, helping them take the best solutions to market across the sectors.
“My biggest motivation is helping customers to produce safe products, with low costs, in a sustainable way. As the market leader in Portugal, we need to be sure we deliver the best solutions for the market, well applied by our technicians, and create value for Diversey and our customers in a consistent way.
“We are making a difference in the market with great initiatives such as #WeAreDairy, and innovations such as Deosan HH+ and Triathlon. These initiatives, as well improved commercial thinking across the Portuguese market, can help Diversey customers’ businesses to be more profitable,” Rodrigo concludes.
