Q&A: consulting the Latin American label market

Labels & Labeling: Describe your move from converter to consultant

Luis Maria Garcia: I co-founded and ran Multilabel for 22 years, overseeing expansion into Brazil and Mexico and building up expertise in our core areas of business: self-adhesive and in-mold labels for the prime, promotional and security label markets. After retiring from the company following a disagreement with my business partner, many friends and colleagues in the industry urged me to use my experience as a consultant. While talking to people at industry events, I noticed a need within the Latin American market for a consultant to advise local converters about best practices, as well as a desire among foreign companies looking to move into Latin America for someone to assist their entry. With my company International Graphic Consultant (IGC), I am now doing both those things. I began consulting in early 2014, but really Labelexpo Americas in September marked my official return to the industry. The response I got from friends and colleagues in the industry was fantastic, and it was great to catch up with old contacts and make plenty of new ones.

L&L: What kind of consultancy work are you carrying out, and for whom?

LMG: Since beginning IGC in early 2014, I have consulted for companies in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, as well as in Central America. For local converters within the region, I can act as an advisor on a variety of topics: from prime label, promotional and security applications to in-mold labeling; from management and administration to due diligence and ISO 9000 certification (I worked within the ISO 9000 certification parameters for all my 22 years with Multilabel).

Mergers and acquisitions are of course an important topic within the Latin American label market; at Multilabel we went through much of the process and came close to being acquired by Austrian group CTI Invest. This is another area in which the region’s converters are interested in having some independent assistance. Foreign companies, meanwhile, are looking for local expertise in markets that they are interesting in entering, either through acquisition or by setting up a subsidiary or local office. I’ve talked to companies on both ends of that spectrum: locally and abroad.

Read a Q&A feature with Luis Maria Garcia from 2010 here.