UM Import / Utilidades do Mar
Utilidades do Mar was established in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2004, to service the sports market with
quality materials, fair price, customer service and respect for the clients. Founded by Lelis B. Couto Jr
and Dino Aragao, two experienced technical divers and lovers of the outdoors and adventure sports.
Lélis is a systems engineer with masters in Technology Management, he has always been an entrepreneur, starting
his first business in the technology industry in 1990, which he holds until this date. Dino is a commercial
airplane pilot, from Rio de Janeiro whose life has always been around the sea and
the beach. Dino had a beachwear store in Rio de Janeiro. They’ve both been scuba diving all over the world for
over 20 years and practicing several other outdoor sports such as boating, rally, rafting, hiking, rappel, kite
surfing and others.
In July 2004, Utilidades do Mar signed a contract with Dive Rite – Lamartech - for the distribution of
its products in Brazil.
In the beginning of 2007, it signed another contract with the French company Beuchat.
In this process, we focused in service and promotion, providing support for old customers; using several means of
promoting and communicating the brand.
We focus on the strengthening of the brands through:
- advertising in the main websites and magazines in the industry always following the same
campaign used by the manufactures in order to maintain the cohesion of the worldwide branding;
- participating and/or sponsoring industry events, trade shows besides individual sponsorships of
key professionals in the market;
- and building product reliability through strong customer service and product support.
In 2008, as part of a growth strategy, we have changed the name to UM Import and moved to a new
building for administration, storage, warehousing, handling and shipping, product servicing and maintenance.
Our objective is to diversify our product line, always focusing on products with quality and differential and
on partners who share our philosophy of sustained growth through quality products, fair price,
exceptional customer service and respect to the clients and resellers.