Check out the main topics covered by Ana Carolina Gonçalves:
GMB - Ana, with what expectations do you start 2021, after a year with so many difficulties caused by the COVID-19?
Ana Carolina Gonçalves - We started 2021 with a lot of hope, always thinking on the positive side and hoping that it will be lighter than 2020. We know that we have many challenges ahead, as we live in a situation that is still very difficult in relation to public health, but in one way or another, we managed to stabilize and be a little more prepared to deal with the challenges generated by the COVID-19 crisis. We cannot help believing that with the start of vaccination and other initiatives that are emerging in relation to vaccines, it will be the only way to solve this crisis. We cannot help but hope that this problem will end at some point. We see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we know it will be a year of recovery. Despite this, Copag did well in 2020, when we managed to recalculate some routes very quickly. It is a year of recovery as the economy and the world need to recover from the crisis. But we cannot drop our positive expectation to look ahead and believe that 2021 will be better than 2020.
You carried out several campaigns to support the communities to face the COVID-19, especially in Manaus. Do these campaigns continue?
No doubt. These campaigns were born during the pandemic. Copag is a company that has always had many initiatives in the social and environmental spheres, especially since we are within the community of Manaus. We were able to leverage even more initiatives during the pandemic, creating a crisis committee in Manaus. We are doing everything we can to act proactively and help our employees and the entire community in the state of Amazonas. The support service we have provided includes psychological and medical support. All of this is having an effect and allows us to be closer to our employees and the Manaus community.
How does Copag position itself today in the global gaming market and how important is the company to Cartamundi?
Copag is a company of the Cartamundi group, the largest game manufacturer in the world. One of the great advantages, as a group, is manufacturing service and not only that. Copag is a company with consumer goods of its own brand and distribution in the regions where it operates. Cartamundi offers a solution with local service for large game players. One of our global customers, for example, is Hasbro, the world's largest manufacturer of toys and games. Cartamundi is the only company capable of offering local manufacturing on the five continents where we operate, in our 11 factories. We have the ability to be close to the consumer market and offer this convenience and service to our global customers.
And what is Copag's strength within this strategic plan adopted by Cartamundi?
Copag is very important within the Cartamundi Group, not only because it has its own brands specifically on decks and we are developing in the world of games, but also because we offer a very complex distribution within Brazil and we are expanding this distribution also in Latin America. And with all the difficulties and challenges that a continent like Latin America with countries as important as Brazil has, it is important having a local partner who understands not only the market, consumption and the end customer, as it can offer a local manufacturing service in a country like Brazil that has enormous difficulties in the fiscal area for any type of import. This brings a competitive advantage to Cartamundi. We are a very important partner within the Group, with the quality and tradition of Copag and the way in which we develop and build this skill and a complex distribution network. This is relevant within the Cartamundi Group.
To the point that Copag card decks are present in the main casinos in the world!
Exactly. And now with the last acquisition of the group, which was the purchase of USPC - United States Playing Card, this became even more evident. Copag was already present inside the largest casinos in the world. We have a very strong brand of plastic decks within the poker market and USPC has a very strong presence in casinos in the United States and Asia, especially in Macau, with the Bicycle brand, well known in the region. This came to add and expand our portfolio of important brands within the casino and deck segment.
Two years ago you took over as CEO of Copag. What did this represent and represent to you and what is it like to be part of the Cartamundi board?
Two years ago, I officially assumed the position of CEO and at that same moment I was invited by the Global CEO to join the Executive Committee of Cartamundi. Today I am part of this committee. First, it was a great honor and a great pleasure to be able to take on a company like Copag, a century-old and family company that has been professionalizing itself for the past ten years with great strength. It was a great joy because I love what I have been doing for a long time. I have been at Copag for 17 years, where I had important days before assuming this position and I am very proud of the company's history. We are an industry in Brazil that has been developing and reinventing itself over time. My main objective is to continue professionalizing the company and work better and better on performance, not forgetting what has been done in the past, because history is very important, but preserving the best practices of the past and continuing to look to the future and being agile for us. adapt and face the challenges.
What changed at Copag after you took over as CEO and what were your great achievements in these two years, albeit one of them with the entire COVID-19 crisis?
Those were difficult times. One of the great challenges was to be at the company at such a difficult and unprecedented time in the world. I think we did very well because Copag has the agility to change course in the face of the challenges presented. One of the great achievements last year was the creation of a global fund for charity. It was headed by us from Brazil. I am Head of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Cartamundi Group and in the middle of the pandemic we created a foundation for the group in such an important year. The idea is to continue with this global fund and take this forward to communities, especially those where Cartamundi has factories. We are going to develop projects that have a positive impact and that return something to society and our planet. I tell my team that I am very blessed to have the Copag family so engaged and dedicated, in addition to having a very high performance, as was the year 2020. There were great achievements, and we were able to understand the difficulties in relation to the pandemic and we quickly change the direction of organization, seeing several job opportunities and developing new things throughout 2020, ending the year in a positive way despite the obstacles that arose. Another important achievement was the acquisition of 50% of a distributor in Chile, in the middle of a pandemic. We made an acquisition through virtual means to continue expanding our business in Latin America. It is a very strategic region for Copag and we are going to increasingly expand business on the continent.
As the largest manufacturer of card decks in the world, what are the company's main markets in the area of casinos under the Copag brand?
Today we operate on five continents. The most important markets are Europe and the United States, where we are not officially licensed to sell in all casinos in all states, but we serve many poker rooms in the country. And in Latin America, we serve practically all major casinos in the main countries. We are known as a brand in practically every casino in the world and especially for our poker audience. We have always had great partners in the poker world, and it is a segment that we continue to support very strongly. We have a very strong and recognized brand in casinos and poker tables.
The history of poker is dramatic. World championships have been greatly affected by the pandemic. How did Copag live with this moment and what were the strategies to cope with the interruption of face-to-face events?
It was undoubtedly a very important point. Copag is very concerned with the digital transformation. Either way, poker has always had two types of experience, online and face-to-face. In my view, there are two complementary experiences, and one does not exclude the other. The most important thing is that people managed to keep playing and I think they are playing more right now, because they found themselves at home with few entertainment options because many face-to-face options were gone during the pandemic. But we were able to count on some companies that already had this online entertainment market developed. And poker is one of them. I have no doubt that the face-to-face poker experience will be resumed with full responsibility once we have a clearer view of how to control this pandemic. So, I am sure that everything we could not do during the pandemic will become things that people will want to do more and more of. As soon as we have an expectation in terms of controlling the disease, the casinos will be back to full and we will have big poker events and make up for lost time. The important thing is that people have not stopped playing and poker has not died because of the face-to-face events that did not happen. I'm sure it has expanded the player base with people who didn't play. This only benefits the physical world as soon as we have a clear control of this spread and we have stability in terms of public health security.
One thing I always say is how impressive it is for Copag to be the world's largest manufacturer of casino decks, being from a country where activity is not allowed. I would like you to talk a little about your perspective regarding the regulation of gaming in Brazil.
I don't usually take a political position. The topic is very political. Since I was born this is on the table, so I follow these conversations since I was very young. I think it is an important issue for Brazil. Gaming exists and needs to be regulated. It is a great opportunity for Brazil to organize itself legally and to have a better exploration of tourism with the regulation of the sector and to benefit from it. We have very important agendas for the country that comes before the regulation of gaming or if project X or Y will go ahead. We have reforms that are essential for the country from an economic point of view, so I am still waiting and always prepared for whatever the final decision may be. Copag's role is not to speculate and not to position itself politically, but to be prepared for any future opportunities that this topic may generate not only for Copag but for the Brazilian population and for the country as a whole.
And when this happens, does Copag already foresee more investments and expansion of the factory to meet the demand that will be large in Brazil with the regulation of casinos?
No doubt. Copag is always prepared to invest. We are always trying to see a long-term horizon. We are a century-old industry and we strongly believe in Brazil and we are prepared for investment. Growth does not come in any other way, only if you invest and we are prepared to serve the market, expand, and invest, being together with partners at this time.
What is your final message for the global market and bringing specifically to Brazil and Latin America?
Copag, as a national industry and part of a multinational company, continues to believe strongly in the segment in which it operates. We bring joy, fun and entertainment to people every day. This is our biggest goal. We are very concerned with the environment and people. My final message is that people hope that better days will come and that they will continue to believe in Copag and in the gaming and toy carton sectors, as these are things that will last for many years.
Source: Exclusive GMB
