About
Zurich and Medellín.Built by people who make things.
Merco did not start as a platform. It started as a problem we hit ourselves, sourcing our own apparel from South America and finding no way in.
- 01
We wanted to build a brand.
Our own mountainwear label: technical outerwear, made well, made responsibly. The product was the easy part. The factory was where everything stalled.
- 02
We could not find the factory.
We had always heard the reputation of Colombia, Envigado and Medellín for some of the best apparel work anywhere, but there was no door to knock on. No directory, no introduction, no reply.
- 03
So we dug, and found an opening.
The trade was largely untouched, and EU–Mercosur was about to make a whole sourcing region more viable. Almost no one was set up to use it.
- 04
That is the gap we close.
Merco is the company we wished had existed: one path from South American factories to European and US buyers, built for the category every agreement leaves until last.
Where we are
Two cities, one corridor.
Zurich
The company, the product and the people who build it. Small enough that you will speak to one of us.
Medellín
An operating company on the ground, which is how this started, and why this is the corridor we know rather than the one that sounded good.
Five origins
Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay: the countries whose agreements with the EU we can put a number on. See the origins.
Who we are
Three people, one desk.
Colin Brotschi
CEO & Founder
Finance and structured-products trading. Studying International Management at ZHAW. Owns an operating company in Medellín.
Simon Kaiser
CCO
Consulting at KPMG. Studying International Management at ZHAW.
Tobias Burri
CFO
Finance, from ZKB’s trading floor.
Where our work stops
Merco runs the workflow. The import stays yours.
The legal obligations of an importer do not move to a software company, and we will not pretend they do. The platform is built so you can discharge them.
- Final supplier selection and contracting
- EU customs import declarations
- Import duty and VAT payment
- Final compliance sign-off as EU operator of record
- Goods quality inspection and acceptance
The full split is in the business terms.
Tell us what you make.
If this corridor is wrong for your product we will say so. That answer is free, and faster than a pitch.