Marie-Amélie Lenaerts - Participant 2013-2015
Receiving complete autonomy on a project was both challenging and exciting”
Role
Marie-Amélie assisted Durabilis’s Guatemalan division, Grupo CEIS, in developing its exports of fresh cut vegetables to the U.S. market.
Responsibilities
In order to grow in the U.S.A., Grupo CEIS was willing to extend its portfolio with new products such as baby zucchini and Brussels sprouts. The first step consisted in investigating the feasibility of producing and exporting those products, and Marie-Amélie was tasked with coordinating this mission. She started by conducting a market analysis, to identify opportunities and challenges in the American market.
As project coordinator, she acted as a central point ensuring close contact and collaboration between the different levels of management, i.e., the production, plant and sales departments.
How she benefited
Marie-Amélie’s experience in Guatemala had numerous benefits for her professional life. Overall she gained project management as well as analytical skills. She also developed an in-depth knowledge of the global food system, a fascinating sector in which she wants to continue working.
“Personally, I think that my personal development was the biggest benefit of my experience in Guatemala”, she says. Working for a company whose goal is to improve lives of people in poor countries and to challenge the status quo of the global food system was also highly motivating.
The company – Durabilis
Durabilis is an international Impact Investing Company with headquarters in Ghent, investing in sustainable agro & food businesses in low income countries. Through its business units such as FairFuit, an integrated producer-exporter-importer of fresh fruit and vegetable, or Terral, the group is committed to supplying sustainable quality products to local and expert food markets.
“Marie-Amélie has continuously reflected on her own performance and searched for ways to learn in order to improve the project outcome. Thanks to her perseverance, cultural intelligence and out of the box attitude, she tackled the challenges in a smart way and allowed us to make a quantum leap for our growth potential in our American business.”