Sulky drops Reco to distribute farm kit directly

The manufacturer of Sulky fertiliser spreaders, seed drills and power harrows is following in the footsteps of several continental equipment makers by switching from using an importer to direct distribution.

From the beginning of November this year, Sulky Burel UK will take over all activities for the French manufacturer’s products from long-time importer Reco.

See also: Reco updates its Sulky fertiliser spreaders

According to a statement from the Huntingdon-based company, “the gentlemen’s agreement for Reco to relinquish their sole UK import agency” will result in responsibility for sales, service and parts support passing seamlessly to the new Sulky subsidiary.

Sulky Burel marketing manager Stephane Billerot says: “We were working with Reco for a long time and we thank them for the good job accomplished on the UK market. However, the UK market is the third largest in Europe and is well structured, with large farms, and farmers want closer contact with manufacturers in terms of advice and services.

“From our side, Sulky Burel needs to be closer to the end users to be able to react faster in terms of product development,” he adds. “With stronger and direct communication, we will be able to increase the strength of the Sulky brand, which is not in the first line in the UK market.”

Other manufacturers have given the same reasons for removing distributors from the supply chain and establishing an operation focused solely on their own products.

Amazone, Dal-Bo, Gregoire-Besson, Grimme, Krone and most recently Pöttinger have taken this route, although Strautmann bucked the trend by appointing Reco as its distributor after running a factory-owned operation for a while.

The importer model also continues to work for companies such as He-Va and Maschio-Gaspardo, both represented by Opico.

Reco emphasises that its other franchises, including Breviglieri power harrows, Ovlac ploughs and cultivators, Fella grass machinery and the Strautmann forage wagons, feeders and manure spreaders are unaffected by Sulky’s decision.

Sulky-Burel is owned by the Burel family and claims market leadership for seed drills and fertiliser spreaders in France. Production moved to a new £15m factory at Chateaubourg, near Rennes, north-west France, in 2011.

A joint-venture company – Sky Agriculture – promotes minimum tillage techniques and equipment in selected markets and a distribution agreement with Canada’s Seed Master adds large direct drills to the product portfolio.

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