TOP 10 OPERATORS 9: DUTY FREE AMERICAS 9


Ship chandler business a ‘no-brainer’ for DFA as US border operations flourish


Duty Free Americas has maintained strong relationships with landlords and suppliers, which are ‘all hurting’ along with passengers, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Leon Falic, President, Duty Free Americas looks cautiously yet optimistically to the future in a wide-ranging interview with Andrew Pentol.


L


aunching new projects and pursuing business opportunities has not been


the priority for many industry stakeholders during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Instead, the focus has been on continuing to do as much business as possible amid store closures and travel restrictions, through digital means for example, and trying to adapt and survive. Like the majority of its DF&TR


counterparts, Duty Free Americas (DFA) has been striving to mitigate against the impact of the pandemic and ensure it’s well positioned to emerge stronger on the other side. However, its plan to do so has


involved the creation of a new ship chandler business under the UETA Group (UETA Ship Supply). The new entity will supply beverages to cruise lines and offer bespoke onboard programmes. While wholly-owned by the Falic


Group, UETA Ship Supply operates independently of its namesake UETA Duty Free, which runs a chain of shops on the US/Mexican border and across Latin America, plus DFA in the US and South America.


OCTOBER 2020


In 2018, DFA reported sales of around $1.65 billion. In conversation with TRBusiness, Leon Falic, President, DFA says sales in 2019 increased by 7% year-on-year. Based on TRBusiness’ estimates, this amounts to approximately $1.76 billion.


Cruises: Added benefits Discussing the company’s first foray into the cruise business, Falic says: “We have been in every part of the DF&TR business and figured that the only thing we were not really part of was the cruise industry.” Outlining the appeal of the cruise


sector, Falic says the challenge is to make it more than about logistics. “We want to give the cruise lines


added benefits and see how we can help each other do better business. “The brand owners we work


with know we pay, deliver and win bids. With this in mind, we asked ourselves why we shouldn’t be in the cruise business and decided to go for it.” At the time of writing, UETA


Ship Supply had not bid for any ship chandelling contracts. Falic comments: “There are no contracts


up for grabs because many of the cruise ships aren’t cruising. As soon as they cruise, there will be bids, we will participate, and we will win.” While the cruise sector has been


heavily impacted by the pandemic, one sector that does not appear to have been hit too much is the US border business. “The borders in the US have done


very well for us. I can tell you the Northern and Southern borders have done better than okay. I guess the pandemic helped, as a lot of people have been travelling by car and crossing the border.” DFA has set up various protocols


across the board in preparation for the re-start. These include preparing


“We are doing what we can. From airlines to airports, to retailers and even passengers who don’t want to fly, we are all hurting.”


Leon Falic, President, Duty Free Americas


TOP 10 OPERATORS 37


Above: DFA does not think people will travel at the rate they did previously, but is confident the DF&TR business will come back.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48