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The Sweet Taste of Successo® Cookies -- 5 Years After the Economic Collapse in Argentina
Sometimes a cookie is more than a cookie — particularly when the sweetness of its taste comes as much from its ingredients as the subtle victory that it symbolizes in the face of hardship. Such is the case with Successo®, the aptly named Buenos Aires manufacturer of alfajores, traditional Argentinean cookies known for their trademark ingredient — dulce de leche.
The Successo® company has indeed become a success story against a backdrop of financial and political instability in Argentina, which culminated in the December 2001 implosion of the country's economy. This crisis plunged more than a third of Argentina's population below the poverty line, and robbed a once largely middle- to upper-middle class Jewish community of some 225,000 people of their life savings virtually overnight. People such as Lucio, then a 15-year veteran of the food industry and a new business owner, saw a sudden and dramatic unraveling of what had taken decades to build. Lucio had purchased a line of used machines and established a plant in Mar de Plata that manufactured alfajores with a kosher certification. But when the crisis struck, a lack of working capital virtually halted the company's production process. As assets were frozen and the peso devalued 400%, there was no cash flow to support the business, which along with Lucio's family's livelihood were in grave jeopardy. "All of a sudden, money accumulated over a whole lifetime was kept by the banks; countless professionals lost their jobs due to personnel reductions in companies where they were working, industrialists and businessmen were paralyzed because of the significant fall in sales, and many of them were obliged to close their companies and businesses, leaving them not only without jobs but also with little hope of re-entering the market," explains Alejandro Kladniew, Director of JDC's Buenos Aires office. Indeed, in 2002 and 2003, more than 100,000 Argentineans — both Jews and the general population — left for Israel, the United States, Canada and Spain in search of a feeling of stability and a promising future for their families. Against this backdrop of staggering unemployment and bankruptcy, JDC and its local partners established the Ariel Job Center. Located in Buenos Aires, the Ariel Job Center was designed to provide professional support, assistance in the preparation of resumes and for interviews, as well as other job retraining and placement assistance. The Center also offers consulting services to small businesses and extends micro-enterprise loans to qualified applicants — a service that was particularly critical at the height of the crisis, when banks were not extending credit. Lucio approached the Ariel Job Center requesting both a micro-business loan so that he could continue his operations as well as advice on his managerial performance. With assistance from the Center, by the summer of 2002, Lucio had recreated the Successo® brand; rented a store in which all production, commercial and administrative activities were carried out; furnished a manufacturing plant with all of the necessary equipment to produce and package the cookies; and launched the company's first alfajores as a test. At the end of the year, the company was making 25,000 Argentine pesos per month manufacturing its two products at the time — chocolate and meringue alfajores — and selling them primarily to the Orthodox Jewish community. In 2003, the Ariel Job Center granted Lucio a loan of $34,000 for supplies and as working capital. This money enabled the company to purchase the needed raw and packaging materials as well as to hire the necessary operators for production. Through the Center, Lucio was also assigned a professional consultant in small- and medium-sized business to help him develop the company and hone his own managerial skills. That same year, a line of chocolate sandwich cookies was introduced and the company began to market their products outside the Jewish community and reach new audiences. And by 2004, a network of kiosks with a large number of stores in the main tourist centers of the city of Buenos Aires — Florida Street, Ezeiza Airport, Retiro Station and others — had become a customer of Successo®. Through the Ariel Job Center, Successo® received matching grants to subsidize the hiring of consulting services in international trade so as to be able to expand into foreign markets with its sweet delicacies. Lucio's company continued to see an increase in profits, which were utilized to purchase additional equipment and make other upgrades. Fulfilling Lucio's dream of expanding into international markets, in 2005 Successo® participated in an exhibition in New York of Kosher food. There the company received its first export testing order, which was delivered at the end of February 2006. Lucio recently received a reorder by the same customer — for double the quantity. "When I was hit by the crisis, I never thought that I could start over again. Furthermore, I never thought I would have the chance for growth," Lucio shares. "The assistance I got from the Ariel Job Center was essential for me; without their help it would have been impossible for me to reinsert myself in the business and develop alternatives so as to reach new markets." The company currently exports its products to the United States, Chile and Ecuador and is in negotiations with businessmen from Israel and other countries who are interested in importing the traditional cookies. Lucio is also grateful that the company continues to meet with success locally, nurturing and expanding its clientele of kosher supermarkets, kiosks and gourmet stores, among others. Lucio continues to work in conjunction with the Ariel Job Center, particularly in his company's search for new employees. "For me it is very important to hire people that belong to my community. I received help from JDC and now it is my turn to assist others," explains the entrepreneur. "To offer employment opportunities is the best way I have to help Jews rebuild themselves after the crisis. To develop networks is the only way we have so as to make sure that the people that belong to the Jewish community will be able to support themselves without having to resort to welfare assistance." Lucio's sentiments are mirrored by so many of those individuals who have been given a second chance at a livelihood through the Ariel Job Center. During its five years of operation, the Center has provided technical assistance to some 1,251 currently successful businesses that employ 4,441 people and job placement assistance to 958 people. At the same time, the Center has granted 304 business-development loans and has improved the employability and marketability of some 12,589 people through training. "Work is a synonym of dignity," Lucio says. "So I feel very proud of being able to help other Jews to have a dignified life in the same way that JDC through the Ariel Job Center made this possible for me." December 2006 |
