Meet Diego Quijano | Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Diego Quijano and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Diego, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
M​y name is Diego, I am an entrepreneur managing and exporting our blueberries to the worlds. At first, I thought I wanted to take control on my time and be able to have quality time with my family but it actually takes more than that, there are some many areas in which you need to control in order to grow and be known worldwide.

When you first begin walking the path toward your dream one Never take into consideration that because of lack of money you end up doing most of the work and in the process one has to identify people who are willing to take the risk and work with you. I enjoy eery step on this walk as it enable to learn about segments and are which I had never done anything. I learned how to select the proper raw material in order to have quality and an a good post/harvest, I learned how to implement and put into practice procedures to be able to have Global Gap and Grasp Certification.

In the process I had to negotiate with both airlines and sea carriers to get the best quote possible to then export our product to the world, and then of course learned what each market needed so we can adapt to local expectations.

It has been over 10 years and we are still in the learning process and in order to adapt we have have to evolve and this is why it took around 3 Years to developed our Organic Blueberry Powder packed with antioxidants to satisfy a growing community of eating healthy. And the process is completely new, we had to learn Marketing trough social medial, learn how to launch a new product and work along our partners to start all over again from ground zero.

What should our readers know about your business?
As Director, I focused on making business processes faster, more effective, and more efficient, achieving top quality. Creating these results for senior management taught me how to effectively partner with clients throughout the various phases of business transformation.

As a leader, I have lots of experience guiding many project teams through the successful design and implementation of strategies creating business with clients in USA, UK, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Germany, Italy, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong. Over the years our relationships with the clients has grown stronger with excellent results located.

We now transformed into a healthy alternative with longer shelf life, more concentrated with antioxidants by Transforming our fresh fruit into dried berries and Blueberry powder Both Organic, The critical part of this is the drying process which is low compared to processing of incoming fresh fruit. Then it was challenging got set up a proper work method to make sure all the intrinsic values of the blueberries were not being lost and finally, We needed to get all the certificates both Organic and Kosher to be able to launch our products and soon we will be Faitrade.

The biggest benefit that our target market derives from our offering being lab tested, 100% Natural and Organic, high quality at lower price point. What sets our product apart from competitors is its customizable options at no additional cost. People who wants to improve their lifestyle and mantain a happy and healthy body and we are here to help.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
It is not for nothing that Argentine meat is considered one of the best in the world and that is because Argentine meat is tasty, succulent and abundant.I will take them to a really nice local restaurant to taste a BIFE DE CHORIZO well worth being tasted accompanied by a good Argentine wine and then on the weekend will take them to the countryside, to see the preparation of the traditional asado or the exquisite chorizo ​​steak.

Then you can dance tango in Caminito street, enjoy the tasty Pizzas and enjoy the intense nightlife of Buenos Aires, the culture and the beautiful natural places. in short, are just some of the main reasons to visit Argentina.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We were in the process on becoming Fairtrade, I had been at London Produce Event and was eager to have a new season with great volume and high impact but due to a hail storm in 18 minutes we lost over 1200TN of pomegrantes and our company was in a pretty bad financial situation.

The support of my beautiful wife, family and small group was a huge help when I needed the most and was able to move forward, it was a very difficult time as I didn’t want to continue and became depressed and saw no opportunity to get back up.

My wife was there to cheer me up and helped got together and pray to the one and only God to give us wisdom and the strength to walk through that terrible path where I saw just troubles, debt and no where to go. My family has been my motor to continue despite the circumstances and God along my side has been the root to know He was in control even though I was not able to see it.

My Small Group (Le Petite Group) came to visit at my birthday few days after this happened and I really did feel to celebrate but they sad down and gave support and some encouragement words and just the fact to be present was something I needed to move forward.

Sebastian, my pastor, was there also to provide guidance and take care of my when I didn’t see a way but as hard as we felt down he learned to get back up, and the sooner you do it the quicker one can begin climbing again and as I came to realize but what I had ahead was way better than what I had to go through

Website: https://www.cafrutas.com/blueberrypowder

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cafrutas/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diegoquijano/