Bant Breen:
Surexport is one of the largest producers and traders of berries. Carmen’s background has been heavily in agricultural engineering. She’s worked in the fruit and vegetable sector for over 20 years, her experience in the field has helped her to build a global view, and has a very clear idea of where this space has come from and where it’s going in the future. With the recent news of the investment in the business, it sounds like things are expanding?
Carmen Perez:
First, we were having a very clear idea of where we wanted to go. It’s been tough, it hasn’t been easy. Especially with products, as you were saying, berries are very delicate. It’s something you need to sell every day. Your strategy must be very clear, even if things are not the way you thought they would be. From the very beginning, we knew that it was important to be close to the customer. We planned to go from the source, from growers directly to customers. This is something that has taken a long time because it hasn’t been easy. There was always a middleman in this industry, especially because most of ours were not well organized. In our case, we had that strategy, and we knew we had to do it. It was important for us to understand the trends of the market, and to understand what the market and what the customers were asking for. After doing all this research and adapting our business to what we were thinking, that was the key to going directly from source to the customer. Right now, we already have this great relationship with good customers. We are already planning for meetings, let’s say not only short-term for just one season, but also midterm and long-term ideas.
Bant Breen:
I can only imagine how that impacts your business on logistics and geopolitical things like Brexit and COVID. What are the biggest challenges today that you face in your business?
Carmen Perez:
The biggest challenge, I would say, is that we’re dealing with a product that has a short shelf life. Everything that you need to think about in your business must be made very quickly, making decisions, and coping with the situations. For instance, when CVOID appeared in our life, we had the company on all sales, well planned and all the sudden all the customers decided with COVID things had to change. We were having promotions in place because when COVID showed up, we were at the peak of the season. Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and all the different berries, and all of a sudden you get this COVID, and all your sales plans crash. For the first time, I must admit that I was completely black. What’s going to happen now because you are so used to all kinds of challenges, but this was so new, and no one knew how to handle it. At the very beginning, it was very confusing. The thing is that it took us a little bit to understand how customers were going to change their pattern of buying. Once we got this in place, it was easy to get going. That was a very tough two weeks.
Bant Breen:
When you think about your job, what gives you the most joy from your work?
Carmen Perez:
I’m going to sound not very humble, but I need to say that I just love what I do. I’m very, very lucky. I know you are on the same page as me. Working in berries, let’s say in the fruit business, but especially berries it is so dynamic, that every single day is different, every single season is different. No matter what you do, every day is just a joy. It’s very important because, in this industry, you either love it or hate it. There’s no in-between. If you are in this industry, it’s just every single day, it’s an amazing day, and you don’t stop learning.
Bant Breen:
Carmen, thank you so much for being on UNCAGED today and we look forward to having you back.
To see the full interview on the Uncaged YouTube channel, go to: