“Cfm trusted us when no one else did.”

GIHON, Argentina and Cfm Oskar Tropitzsch celebrate 30 years of business relationship and friendship

It all began 30 years ago in Marktredwitz. The former “Chemische Fabrik Marktredwitz” produced the active ingredient thimerosal itself for a long time. Later, the material could be obtained from an Argentinian source, which gradually turned out to be dishonest. A barely legible document finally changed everything and laid the foundation for a long-standing, trusting cooperation between GIHON in Argentina and Cfm Oskar Tropitzsch in Marktredwitz.

Argentina, 1994. A blurry fax, printed upside down, barely legible. In the wrinkled corner, an address that was difficult to decipher that changed everything for the troubled company GIHON: the number of the Cfm office in Marktredwitz, Germany.

We should never know about each other

For many years, GIHON has been considered a reliable, worldwide producer of thimerosal. However, a dubious Argentinean middleman ensured that the company was never able to gain notoriety. Ordered goods were consistently relabeled, so that Cfm and GIHON never found out about each other’s existence. For the time being.

Ricardo and Alberto Chevalier, CEOs at GIHON, say: “After our commercial activities with the dishonest distributor were finally stopped, we found that in a corner of a fax printed the wrong way around, the number of the Cfm office was waiting for us to be discovered. In March 1994, we sent our first fax to Cfm. The content: We are the true producers of thimerosal in Argentina. If you are interested, please contact us directly.”

We are the true producers

The document had an effect the very next day. Lydia Tropitzsch, the aunt of Cfm managing director Steffen Tropitzsch, replied immediately: “We are interested. 300-400 kg per month are possible.” Ricardo Chevalier: “I still remember the happiness of my father Tito, Alberto’s happiness and my own joy. Our whole family was overjoyed. To put it in a nutshell, Cfm trusted and supported us when no one else did.”

And there were reasons for that. Steffen Tropitzsch remembers: “The quality of the product convinced us. In addition, there was immediately a great deal of mutual trust. The Chevalier family had already sold almost everything at that time. The fax was like the streak of light on the horizon.”

Ethically and humanly aligned

Negotiations took place immediately afterwards and finally the first delivery to Germany in June 1994. Despite the joy about the newly established business relationship, the situation remained difficult for GIHON at first. GIHON was still producing an excellent product, the quality of which had been validated by several companies worldwide. But the company lacked contacts. Now it was time to build up sales from scratch. Here, too, GIHON was able to draw positives from the cooperation with Cfm.

Ricardo and Alberto Chevalier: “Cfm knew the market we wanted to enter. Cfm’s geographical location was strategically valuable. The team’s sales experience also helped us. We were sure that this synergy was perfect to successfully distribute our internationally competitive, high-quality product. We were not only in agreement on business, but above all ethically and humanly.”

Argentinian ease meets German precision

Cfm Managing Director Steffen Tropitzsch can also confirm this: “The human solidarity and mutual trust is extraordinary. At the beginning, there were some hurdles to overcome, including language barriers and the fact that Argentine ease met German precision.

We have optimized a lot of things together, shared our experiences, carried out audits. It also got emotional from time to time, but that’s exactly how this connection came about. And: The good gut feeling was there from the beginning.”
What makes the partnership between Cfm and Gihon special is the friendship that goes beyond business. Whenever one of the companies needed help, the other was there to help. Despite one or two stumbling blocks at the beginning of the collaboration, the brothers Alberto and Ricardo gave their word: “Trust us. We will never let you down.”

The world’s only producer of thimerosal

As in every business relationship, there were always ups and downs to master. “Fortunately, in retrospect, the milestones and successes stand out,” the Chevalier brothers recall. One of the most important milestones happened in 1998. The most important producer of thimerosal at the time, a European company, recognized GIHON’s production know-how and also the outstanding product quality. As a result, the company offered to expand its customer base in exchange for production exclusivity for GIHON. Oskar Tropitzsch, father of Steffen Tropitzsch, travelled to Argentina for the first time to accompany the entire negotiation process. GIHON was immediately considered the only manufacturer of thimerosal in the world.

In the background, however, the next low blow was brewing for GIHON. This became apparent just three years later, in 2001. The Argentine economy was at a low point. GIHON had to rise to the challenge and invest significantly in the expansion of the production facility in order to be able to meet market demand. Oskar Tropitzsch did not hesitate for long and granted GIHON a corresponding loan for this project.

Both companies are looking positively to the future and are committed to continuing on this path together. The aim is to sell more high-quality products and to continuously improve processes. Ricardo and Alberto Chevalier conclude: “The future has always been kind to us.”