Duotags offers a superior alternative to existing livestock tags currently on the market. The species-specific range of electronic and visual management tags have been designed for lifetime livestock transportability and trackability.
Veterinary Surgeon and Managing Director of Duotags, John Steinfort has worked tirelessly since 2002 to create livestock tags that both reduce pain at application and ensure rapid healing. Individuated to differentiate stock, the design has specifically been developed to enhance retention – in other words the tags’ ability to remain permanently in the animal’s ear. With independent trials showing 99.6% retention, Duotags are set to be extremely successful, both within Australia and around the world.
‘Globally we’re very ready for an efficient livestock tagging system,’ says John. ‘We need quality assurance within the public domain regarding the quality of every animal and its disease status. Duotags can be read electronically, with a unique number allocated to each tag. This enables databases to be created. Cows, sheep, goats and more – immediate information can be provided as to their whereabouts. Locating individual animals is very important, in particular if there’s a disease outbreak such as the foot and mouth outbreak in the UK. The secret to protecting the industry lies in early detection and early notification. Because the UK didn’t have electronic tagging, their entire system was let down.’
Currently John is in the process of developing Duotags for export. First port of call is most likely Brazil, with the company working alongside Candida Costa, Senior Consultant from BSI Capital and a native Brazilian. The aim has been to connect with Brazilian companies that may be interested in taking on the distribution of the Duotags products.
‘Candia’s been a key person in our Brazilian connection,’ says John. ‘The fact that she’s lived in Brazil means she understands the culture fully as well as being able to speak Portuguese. Her communications skills and experience in business modeling have been invaluable.
Candida introduced John to Geovanne Teles in the Melbourne Austrade Office.
‘Geovanne was out here on tour with the Brazilian consulate, seeking potential companies to do business with. We quickly struck a chord. Geovanne has a successful company that employs many people. He deals mainly in software development but he’s also passionate about his country’s agricultural industry. He could see great potential in bringing Duotags to Brazil.’
Rather than exporting directly, Duotags plans to create a licensing agreement with Geovanne’s company.
‘They’re the experienced people over there,’ says John. ‘They do things their way. We’ll supply them with the information, the intellectual property and the product and they’ll get Duotags into the market place.’
Candida Costa supports Duotag’s methods in entering the Brazilian market.
‘The first thing we did was to send one of our researchers to attend Feicorte – the biggest trade fair in Brazil. Everyone was really excited about the Duotags product, because it’s so innovative and so different to what’s currently out there. The feedback from the market was really good.
I would be lying however if I said it was easy to do business in Brazil. Regulation, taxation and bureaucracy can all be complicated. It’s much more straightforward in Australia. It can be tricky if Australian companies try to go to Brazil by themselves. That’s why Duotags chose to form a partnership. We needed to find Duotags a Brazilian partner with local market knowledge, to help them through the processes.’
Duotags hopes to be selling their product in Brazil within the next six months. A great point of entry for other South America markets, once Duotags is manufacturing within Brazil they can take advantage of special import tax brackets when exporting to Argentina and Uruguay. Duotags products are currently in trial in two farms in Brazil and a new tag model was designed to address specific market requirements. Aside from South America, Duotags is in negotiation with a European company – as well as specific governments planning to introduce livestock tagging systems into their countries.
John has few concerns about exporting, preferring to remain the optimist.
‘I think it’s really important to build good business relationships with your overseas partners, to minimise the risk of difficulties and problems in the future. That’s what I do, as well as seeking professional and legal advice to set company structures.’
When asked to offer any words of wisdom to other companies considering exporting John says not to be afraid or discouraged by the seemingly daunting obstacles in your way.
‘Do your planning really well. Ensure your product is world class. And use professional advice to be well informed.’
He also adds that having access to Candida Costa and BSI Capital’s experience for their Brazilian alliance was invaluable. ‘You can’t assume to know the way Brazilians and their companies work, how they do things over there, their cultural differences. Using professional people to advise you in that area is really important.’
Candida offers her own observations.
‘Brazilians in general have a positive overview of Australian companies, seeing us as being a highly technological and innovative country. I think they seek out Australian companies that have that edge. The way that Australians are relaxed and easy to communicate with is a big similarity with Brazilians. Company directors seem to get along really well. They share the same laidback approach to doing business, making it easy for everyone.
There’s a huge market in Brazil. The middle class is growing rapidly and with it the domestic market, so there are great opportunities. Brazil is a country that, to a large extent, is neglected by Australian companies – it’s simply not on the radar. I think it presents a great opportunity because there’s not as much competition as in the US or UK. Take Duotags for example, there’s nothing like that in Brazil.’
44 -46 Burchell Lane
Mirboo NOrth, Vic 3871
Australia
Tel: +613 5626 7170
Email: sales@duotags.com