Company Overview

HGL sources market leading branded products for specialist markets. The fragmented nature of the specialist markets and the strength of the brands enables HGL to retain more pricing power than if we were selling to large dominant customers. Mass market consumer brands are unlikely to be distributed as the gross margins tend to be lower, the marketing expenditure higher and the market dominance of several customers too great.

We sell into specialist markets and maintain close focus through having discrete business units for each market. Through adopting a decentralised model we are able to have a better understanding of the products and future trends within each market. Each business unit focuses on a specialist market and strives for higher levels of customer and supplier satisfaction. HGL’s approach facilitates rapid response to changes in tastes and demand together with speedy adoption of new products and technologies.

HGL builds the value of brands for the long term benefit of customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders. The value of a brand is increased by growing sales; in brief this is achieved by investing in the training of our staff and in properly targeted advertising and marketing support. We aim to excel at representing our brands and to be the first choice distributor in our markets.

The strategy for continued growth includes gaining new product agencies in existing and adjacent markets. The purchase of additional business units in new markets will also occur when the brands and the people meet our rigorous criteria. Most importantly we continue to improve internal processes to generate additional sales and a lower cost of doing business.

As an importer we acknowledge the need to manage foreign exchange risk. We principally manage this risk by selling products where most of the medium and long term exchange rate fluctuations are borne by our customers and suppliers. Foreign currency bank accounts and foreign exchange contracts are used to create a breathing space for operational adjustments to occur when exchange rates move.