Statement: Michael Friede, CEO, Brenntag Specialties
CHEManager asked executives and industry experts from a broad range of chemical distributors to share their views on how their companies are dealing with this changing economic environment and the resulting opportunities and challenges.
A chemicals and ingredients distributor is the connecting element, the go-between from producer to the end-markets and back. While in industrial chemicals topics of pricing, volume and delivery time are key, in specialty chemicals the role in addition requires a very different expertise, a much more value-add-focused and consultative approach for both customers and supply partners.
We leverage our product, technical and regulatory expertise as well as our global network in the markets to understand the needs and strategies of our principals and their products on a very deep level. We are the extended arm of their sales efforts, representing their product basket to our global customer base. We also play a key role in providing crucial feedback to our principals in terms of market trends and innovation we see with the many smaller, innovative customers we cater to worldwide. We know the needs and requirements of our customers in their markets very well, and where innovation is evolving or where it is lacking. Our customer base comes to Brenntag for support and advice, not just to source an individual product.
We at Brenntag leverage our expertise to find, develop or recommend a solution from our diversified supplier portfolio that fits the customers’ needs and applications, or facilitate the joint development of something new in our global network of Innovation and Application Centers. And we do this in a fast and agile manner. We do not just provide the most affordable solution or just one particular chemistry base, but the one that incorporates innovative approaches, sustainability components, best-practice results, and application grade quality. In addition, we play a key role in supporting our broad customer base in navigating the ever-increasing regulatory environment in chemistry.
Last, but surely not least, we run a comprehensive innovation program extending into our digital offerings of Brenntag, in order to become the easiest to do business with and to thereby innovate in the way we interact and provide best services all around.
“We leverage our product, technical and regulatory expertise as well as our global network in the markets to understand the needs and strategies of our principals.”
