Sumitomo Chemical strengthens YEN Program at Andav

Sumitomo Chemical is participating in the 15th edition of the Andav Congress, the main meeting of the agricultural input distribution sector in Brazil, held between August 11th and 13th at the Transamerica Expo Center in São Paulo (SP), highlighting the importance of the Brazilian distribution chain in connecting industry and producers. The Japanese company reinforces the evolution of the YEN Program, presents new solutions for national agriculture and livestock farming, and highlights future innovations.

Launched during the 2025 Andav Congress, the year Sumitomo Chemical celebrated 50 years of operation in Brazil, the YEN Program has become one of the main pillars of the company's commercial strategy. Inspired by the Eastern concept of collective prosperity, the program was created to strengthen relationships with distributors, promoting joint growth, access to exclusive tools, training, and the generation of new business opportunities. Currently, the initiative directly impacts approximately 200 distributors throughout the country and has already reached more than 5.500 professionals from technical and sales teams.

The YEN Program goes far beyond commercial relationships, offering a complete management and partner development structure – part of the program focuses on professional business management and provides a platform where distributors can track goals, action plans, indicators, and results. Another important pillar is demand generation, offering tools, training, and even resources so that our partners can bring Sumitomo Chemical technologies and solutions to farmers.

"We will be even closer to distributors, investing heavily in the training and development of our technical and commercial teams. These are the professionals who are on the front lines, bringing knowledge and innovation to the field," says Everson Zin, Market Access Manager at Sumitomo Chemical.

The initiative reinforces the importance of the segment for Brazilian agribusiness. "It is estimated that approximately 50% of the national market for agricultural inputs is driven by distributors, who are responsible for connecting the innovation developed by the industry to the producer. It is this network that enables the adoption of new technologies in the field and contributes to the successive productivity gains of Brazilian agriculture," says Zin.

Distribution challenges

Luís Serafim, Market Access - Distribution Manager at Sumitomo Chemical, explains the main challenges currently faced by distributors. "Today, distributors need to improve their operational efficiency for profitability, talent retention, and customer loyalty. That's why I was hired to help them both in business management and in building more lasting relationships with farmers and ranchers, increasing purchase frequency and capturing greater value."

Pioneering and Leadership in BioRationals

Luciano Jaloto, Marketing Director for Sumitomo Chemical Brazil, emphasizes that the company will expand its investments in innovation, focusing on the BioRationals line and the development of solutions external to the physiological management of plants. "We will strengthen our pioneering spirit and knowledge in plant physiology, contributing to the development of crop structure in the face of climatic challenges and the need to increase the productive potential of the main crops. Our goal is to offer new management alternatives and tools that bring more convenience and efficiency to producers and ranchers. We have many new developments planned for this year. New products will be launched in September and October," says Jaloto.

Among the initiatives is the Soja+ program, which brings together the growth regulators MaxCel and ProGibb, developed to contribute to improving plant architecture and increasing the crop's productive potential.

In addition to its line of BioRationals, Sumitomo Chemical offers chemical solutions that are already recognized in the market. For soybeans and corn, our main highlight is the premium fungicide Excalia Max, a benchmark in controlling the complex of diseases that affect crops and in preserving their productive potential.

The strategy also includes the pre-emergent herbicide ZethaMaxx EVO, which combines three mechanisms of action to increase efficiency in managing specific plants. The strategy also advances with OpteraDuo, a foliar insecticide with two modes of action, a shock effect and a long residual effect, highly effective in controlling caterpillars (false armyworm, Helicoverpa armigera and fall armyworm) and the two-spotted spider mite.

In the pasture segment, the company also presents Tempest E, a selective systemic herbicide developed for managing plants that are seemingly easy to control or extremely difficult to control, reinforcing Sumitomo Chemical's presence in Brazilian livestock farming as well.

Sustainability

In addition to strengthening commercial relationships, the YEN Program has also been driving sustainability initiatives. In its first year, approximately ten distributors began developing projects focused on ESG pillars, encompassing environmental, social, and governance actions.

Among the main results is Sumitomo Chemical's participation in achieving the first Brazilian carbon-neutral wine certification in partnership with Miolo Wine Group, Grupo Modarc–Uniagro, and the startup E2Carbon. "Sustainability is related to the ability to connect different initiatives to generate lasting value. In the first year of the YEN Program, we were able to develop projects with distributors, involving producers and the entire supply chain. The Miolo case demonstrates exactly this potential, opening new markets through traceability and reducing the carbon footprint," highlights Serafim.