Expo Red 2024: A new horizon
Published on: Aug 6, 2024
The YPF Operators Association organized the event's fourth edition and set new records for attendance and exhibitors.
Expo Red, the trade fair organized by the YPF Operators Association, celebrated its fourth edition on August 1-2, bringing together service station operators and suppliers.
For this iteration, the event moved to the Costa Salguero venue in Buenos Aires, Argentina, attended by more than 4,000 professionals from the local fuel retail market. The fair reflected YPF's effort to make innovation one of the main pillars of its new phase and fostered new business and networking opportunities among its participants.
Expo Red 2024 was the first edition since Horacio Daniel Marín took office as the new president of the company as part of the new government. During his speech, Marín emphasized the importance of the retail business as part of his "4x4 Plan," highlighting service stations as one of the four fundamental pillars that support the goal of quadrupling the company's value over the next eight years.
"Our commitment is to help you increase your productivity and efficiency so that the stations can achieve greater profitability," Marín assured in reference to the association members.
The event brought together the largest number of exhibitors in its history. Long-standing players such as Gilbarco Veeder-Root, Pump Control, Bertotto Boglione, and IMS Company were present at the fairground, amid a challenging context for the sector.
"Generally, government changes do not entirely affect our operations, but they do cause some delays. From the end of last year to early July, contracts were reviewed, which caused some delays that often get resolved all at once at the end of the year. I think the second half of the year will be much better than the first," said Pablo Capuano, commercial manager of Bertotto Boglione.
Innovative players in the sector, such as Mercado Libre/Mercado Pago and SpaceX's Starlink, also joined in their first time at the fair. These new additions highlight the role technological innovation plays for YPF in such events, incorporating pioneering companies from the digital landscape to help service station operators take their businesses to the next level.
"Mercado Pago is already present at service stations. What we're looking to do is to showcase the new features of our app that could be useful for operators, such as cash withdrawals or money investments. Additionally, stations can digitize their services through the comprehensive ecosystem and solutions that Mercado Libre can provide to help them increase sales," representatives from both companies emphasized.
Another significant milestone celebrated at Expo Red 2024 was the opening of the 1,000th FULL store, YPF's convenience store brand. This consolidates the chain's leadership in the sector, with plans to open a total of 120 new outlets by the end of this year.
