Luz Santos Bollea is a citrus entrepreneur and SME in constant evolution, who at the age of 28 took on the challenge of promoting lemons abroad after the illness of her mother, the founder of Terri Citrus. Her personality and entrepreneurial attitude make her the benchmark for the new paradigm of the exporting woman. She currently sells her production to more than 15 countries. Interviewed by Customs News, At the Second Meeting of Women Exporters building Networks with MERCOSUR, she will say at one point in the talk that “an export cannot be sustained without having values.”
Question: When did you start exporting?
Answer : I started exporting in April 2017 with 25 containers. It was a small shipment to take step by step. We continued in 2018 with 54 containers and this year we aim to reach one hundred. We are always doubling our exports.
Q: Why did you go into foreign trade?
R: I had never worked in lemon production or export. I didn’t understand what the word FOB, shipping line or forwarder meant. But the idea of dedicating myself to foreign trade began when my mother, Carmencita Bollea, founder of the company PYME, became ill with cancer. This forced my family to move to Buenos Aires for a year. During one of the chemotherapy sessions, I asked my mother what she had left to do professionally. She replied: “I would like my lemons to travel around the world.” So we said “let’s get to work”: something that seemed impossible under the circumstances we were living in. However, we achieved it in six months. After planning and completing the corresponding paperwork, we reserved a place at the fruit and vegetable fair in Berlin, where I traveled with one of my brothers. There we met future clients. When we returned from Germany, two weeks later, in April 2017, we were able to export our first two containers to Holland and England. And that year we exported to five countries. But the sad news came that our mother, the founder, passed away that same year. This situation helped us to grow, learn and continue to pursue this dream that was hers and is now ours.
Q: What would you say to women to encourage them to export?
R: From my experience, I can tell women the following: I was 28 years old, I had never exported, I had no idea how many kilos of lemons fit in a box, I didn't know what sizes were, I had only worked in another area as an auditor. My advice is to use the inner strength that we women have. Let's not underestimate ourselves. We must be genuine: let's not try to be like men. I also suggest traveling to meet people, because you can achieve more in a twenty-minute meeting than in nine months of emails. It is very important to be transparent, to have values and to transmit them. In export, the basis is trust and without values, a long-term relationship cannot be sustained.
Q: Did government tools help you export?
R: They really helped me a lot, because they opened up markets that had not been open for twenty years, such as the United States and also Brazil. In addition, today there are different tools for exporting. In particular, I relied on the Institute for Productive Development of Tucumán (IDEP) because together with them I was able to go to the fair in Berlin for the first time and have a stand to fulfill my mother's dream, which is now our dream, her legacy.
Q: So, did you fulfill your dream?
R: I went to live in the United States for a year: I loved living abroad. When I returned, I was back with my family in Tucumán. Exporting makes me feel fulfilled, I am happy to speak English all day, to be in contact with the world, to develop new relationships in Argentina and abroad. I liked this since I was a child. I remember that my mother sent me to a school in Italy with 12.000 children from all over the world and all religions. This experience was a click in my head and made me think that everything happens for a reason. My mother's dream led me to mine, because today I am happy with the export of what was hers.
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Mini Bio
* Luz Santos Bolea (31 years old)
* Bachelor of Business Administration
* Married since December 2018
* Four brothers
* Hobby: playing football with his team on Saturdays
* Phrase: “When you have a dream and you pursue it with passion, you can achieve it, always.”
Mini story by Terri Citrus
The current citrus growers are the 4th generation of producers from the Mata family. Their beginnings began in 1954 with the creation of the first industrial lemon plant in Tucumán, the San Miguel citrus plant, today a top-level exporter in the world.
In 1993, the family divided its lands among its heirs. This is how Terri Citrus was born, led by its founder and president Carmen Bollea Mata, who started the company with a 90-hectare farm and managed to achieve exponential growth. Today, it has more than 900 hectares of lemon plantations.
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
