Marketing Director Yulia Yamnova told us how the Kalina Agro company coped with difficulties after Trimble left Russia, and how this became the impetus for the development of its own brand.
What is not done is for the better!
- Why, in your opinion, is it now especially important and relevant to hold exhibitions such as AGROSALON 2024?
Yulia Yamnova: 2022 was a very ambiguous and alarming year for our company. Despite an impressive ten years of experience in a specialized area - precision agriculture, our company worked and developed together with the only brand for us, Trimble. At that time, together with Trimble specialists, we implemented the most complex and interesting projects in Russia, many of which were exclusive. Thanks to our high qualifications, at the end of 2021 our company received the prestigious international status of Vantage Trimble.
The sudden departure of the brand from the Russian market plunged us all into a new reality and left us, as a supplier of Trimble equipment, alone with thousands of customers who daily needed technical support, equipment updates, warranty and post-warranty repairs, and adjustments in the field with the implement. We valued our reputation as a reliable partner, which we had developed over the years, so we decided to continue our work.
In the spring of 2022, in conditions of complete confusion and sanctions, new unknown Chinese brands of navigation equipment began to enter our market. The market began to change rapidly and agricultural enterprises began to be offered dozens of options for navigation systems. Many of our clients asked us to test new products and offer them an inexpensive, but stable working system for work that does not require high precision or complex solutions. The technical competencies of our engineering service + 8 months of field testing of several brands of Chinese navigation allowed us to select truly working solutions.
For us, AGROSALON 2022 was a significant event - it was from this exhibition that our company began its independent journey and presented Kalina Agro as a separate brand. Then, at the stand, we were able to neutralize the wave of panic among agricultural producers and dispel all the rumors that were circulating en masse in the media space. At the same time, at the stand we showed for the first time our second brand of budget navigation and the results of spring tests of new equipment. And then we just worked. During this period, we grew, became stronger and learned a lot. We have added several new areas, one of which is DJI agricultural drones.
We trained pilots, sorted out documents for registration, set up the supply and production of trailers for transporting drones and mortar units. The navigation area has also grown - our solutions work perfectly using stable RTX/Atlas satellite correction signals.
- What are you bringing to the AGROSALON exhibition in 2024? Is there anything surprising?
Yulia Yamnova: We have already begun preparations for the AGROSALON 2024 exhibition and the presentation of new products for the 2025 season. In 2024, we added a domestic manufacturer of navigation systems, ITELMA, to our portfolio. We actively test new products in the fields of our clients with different brands of equipment, receiving feedback and immediate improvements directly from the fields.
And this is not just one new product this year, in the spring we opened two more directions - equipment from the famous Kverneland brand, the plant of which successfully operates in our home region, Lipetsk, and another interesting navigation product, the presentation of which will take place at AGROSALON 2024, but today we will keep a little intrigue.
So, at AGROSALON 2024, manufacturers and agricultural enterprises will get acquainted with the widest selection of solutions for precision farming from Trimble/MAX/ITELMA. The line starts with the simplest and most budget-friendly auto-driving systems, we will show our top products - Autopilot systems, working with stable correction signals of 2.5/4/10 cm, built into the hydraulic system of tractors and self-propelled sprayers, and of course, our exclusive individual solutions for large agricultural enterprises that combine all data into a single digital ECO system. The list of equipment will be complemented by our indispensable flying assistant - the DJI Agras T40 agrodrone.
- What did participation in AGROSALON give you in previous years (new clients, understanding of the market, what the needs are, what technologies are available, in what direction you need to develop)? What are your expectations from the exhibition this year?
Yulia Yamnova: AGROSALON gives a great chance and start to small companies to present their product and their brand to a wide pool of partners, represented by both equipment manufacturers and farmers directly. The exhibition is very conveniently divided by topic, taking place at the right time, when the main agricultural work has come to an end and companies are beginning to prepare for the new spring season.
