The pandemic and confinement first and food inflation later have been a challenge for Winche, the company specialized in commercial networks founded in 2002 by Javier Scherk. These two factors have made the company rethink some of its strategic lines before the arrival of the covid: acquisitions and international expansion.
“With the pandemic we have opted for a prudent policy and we have repositioned ourselves,” maintains Scherk. This, together with the difficulty in finding qualified personnel in the sales sector, has made them park the entry into Italy or Latin America that they had been considering for a long time. “We have postponed it sine die,” says Scherk.
Regarding the purchases that had been previously considered, the manager assures that they have constantly mapped the market and, to date, have not found sufficiently attractive options. “We do not want to grow only in volume and we have not seen anything that provides us with added value, a greater knowledge of what we already do,” he points out.
By contrast, Winche will now focus on Spain and Portugal, where it has gained share after the pandemic due to the disappearance of some of the competitors who failed to overcome the covid crisis.
Last year, the outsourcing company entered 21.9 million euros, 8.4% more than in 2021 and close to the pre-pandemic figures. For this 2023, with the mass consumption channel normalized and on the rise (Horeca and distribution contribute 50% of its turnover) they plan to touch 25 million euros.
In addition to consumer goods, the company also works in electronics (30% of sales) and pharmacy (20%). It is this channel that Scherk wants to promote now. “We have room for growth here, it is a more traditional sector that has entered outsourcing later and we see opportunities to grow and gain market share”, highlights the top executive of the company, 60% family-owned and 40% from the Aurica fund.
For this they want to increase their staff from the current 540 workers to 600 at the end of the year. It is not an easy task, acknowledges Javier Scherk. “We are having a hard time finding the right profiles. To dedicate yourself to sales, you need skills, such as public speaking and attitude, which today have diminished ”, he considers. They are also incorporating technical profiles to continue promoting their data consultancy. Of course, he proudly affirms that when a worker enters Winche, he “stays”.
