Interview with Ernesto Soriano: Avalon’s vision for service station transformation
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We had the opportunity to speak with Ernesto Soriano, Avalon’s Sales Director for the EMEA region, who outlined the company’s vision and strategy within a sector undergoing significant transformation.
In this interview, Mr. Soriano addresses the current challenges faced by service stations, the growth opportunities across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and explains how Avalon, with over 40 years of industry expertise, is establishing itself as a trusted technology partner through innovative solutions such as Arcadia Workspace.
1. As Avalon’s Commercial Director for the EMEA region, what is your main objective, and how does the Avalon team approach understanding the specific needs of service station owners, oil companies and industry partners?
Although Avalon’s international expansion began in the early 2000s in Latin America, where we hold a strong position today, it wasn’t until 2022 —after being acquired by Constellation Software (CSU TSE)— that we implemented a new strategy focused on Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Our goal is to position Avalon as a key technology partner across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Our approach has been progressive: first identifying less mature markets with high growth potential, then building partnerships, and finally consolidating with our own resources and teams to expand and provide full support to partners and customers.
At every stage, what defines Avalon is listening. Listening to our customers, to our partners, and to the market itself. We know that no two customers are the same; each has specific needs. Our role is to understand them and adapt our powerful solutions with flexibility and a continuous improvement mindset.
2. From a commercial perspective, what are the most pressing demands and challenges currently expressed by service station managers? Has the profile of your client changed in recent years?
The most common demand we see today is adaptability — the ability to evolve, integrate and respond quickly to an increasingly complex ecosystem of technologies and applications.
Customers want partners who can support their growth and evolution: sometimes by covering needs already addressed in our solutions, and other times by developing new requirements or technologies. Being a company fully specialized in this sector gives Avalon the agility to deliver both.
3. In this context, what is Avalon’s growth strategy in the EMEA region? Which markets or business segments do you consider most promising for the expansion of your solutions?
As mentioned, Avalon has identified priority markets in each region, supported by experienced Business Developers joining our EMEA team. Eastern Europe, the Balkans, North and West Africa, as well as Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, are proving to be particularly promising.
In mature and consolidated markets, our strategy is different: we focus more on Mergers & Acquisitions, leveraging the backing of our parent company.
4. The service station solutions market is highly competitive. What would you say sets Avalon apart from its competitors? What is your unique value proposition for a station owner looking to modernize their business?
Next year Avalon celebrates its 40th anniversary. It has been a non-stop journey, fully devoted to the oil & gas sector: from the early stages of automating service stations to today’s complex hubs of energy and convenience.
Evolving through these stages, always enhancing our solutions with input from our diverse customer base, has given us a broad vision and unmatched capability. The result is a comprehensive yet modular solution that can manage all the different aspects of a service station business, across the three key levels: Front, Back and Head Office.
5. Avalon’s presence at international trade shows has grown significantly over the past two years. Which products have received the most positive response from attendees?
Attendees are always impressed by how Avalon turns complexity into simplicity. They see how all processes —sales, management, supervision— are connected in a comprehensive, traceable and user-friendly environment.
Behind this is Arcadia, our cloud-based Back and Head Office platform, which provides structured, real-time information on a massive scale. This product has consistently generated the strongest interest.
6. Soon, we will see you again at Forecourttech ‘25, one of the key platforms for connecting with the industry. What are your expectations for this event?
Forecourttech has become a key event on our calendar. Each year we look forward to meeting new prospects, strengthening ties with existing customers and partners, and discovering the latest trends and technologies shaping the sector.
It’s also an opportunity for us to feel part of this global community —a great family— that shares the same passion for driving innovation in our industry.
7. What kind of feedback does Avalon receive from professional visitors attending networking forums like Forecourttech?
The feedback is consistently positive. Visitors are impressed by the ease with which our solutions provide both a high-level summary of a network’s performance and the ability to deep dive into detailed data, all in real time.
They also point out something important: the need for Avalon to expand its footprint into more markets, since many potential customers feel more confident adopting our ecosystem once they see it already operating successfully in their country.
8. Looking ahead, how do you foresee the commercial model in the service station sector evolving? Do you see notable differences between the various markets Avalon is targeting?
Absolutely. The level of maturity and evolution varies greatly from one country to another, and even more between continents. While some markets are already experimenting with AI, others are still at the very beginning of automation.
For the latter, Avalon’s role is to help them take shortcuts: applying our experience to enable fast upgrades and evolution at reasonable cost and time. This makes our commercial approach complex —because we adapt to very different realities— but also truly exciting.
Learn more at Avalon.
