Medialunas can only satisfy an expatriate for so long before they flip over their table, jump on their chair and scream, “ I want eggs, I want bacon and I want some granola!”
Well, Marina Lidow and her boyfriend Adrian Aras Carpintero have the solution: Granolamix.com.ar.
After working as a management consultant in Chile, Mexico and Argentina, self-proclaimed “breakfast connoisseur” Lidow – not in an obnoxious sort of way – and Buenos Aires local Carpintero created the online custom granola company in September to ease the frustrations from the lack of breakfast options.
Behind their Palermo headquarters and serene blue Web site is over 40 ingredients, including freshly prepared granola and dried fruit, which can be combined to make the ultimate custom cereal, granola bar or afternoon snack.
The site also offers “special occasion breakfasts” for anybody fancying breakfast in bed and delivery for an additional charge.
LivinginArgentina.com was lucky enough to catch up with 24-year-old Lidow in between her busy schedule of dehydrating fruit and preparing granola to ask her a few questions about breakfast and life as a United States expat.
The question that has to be asked first is, well, why granola?
“Well, because breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast is my favorite meal (Adrian likes it pretty much, too) and I think that, well, for us and for a lot of expatriates – which is kind of the target that we were looking at originally – and just with conversations that we have had with our friends…it is kind of a meal that you don’t get a lot of variety here. You can either have a medialuna…and I’m not complaining, I love medialunas. I actually took a class at I.A.G. to learn how to make medialunas for when I eventually go back home to Chicago. I need to know how to make them because I am obviously not going to be able to get them and I don’t think that I could live without them anymore.”
Is there actually a difference between a medialuna and a croissant?
“Yeah, there is a difference. The dough is different. A croissant, I think, just has more of a flaky, buttery taste and medialunas have a sweeter taste and they are also smaller. They sell croissants here; they are not the same as the French croissants. A croissant here is much bigger than a medialuna”
Now with Granolamix, would you say that it is successful?
“We are very pleased with the response that we have seen so far. It has been growing much faster than we had imagined. We anticipated that it would take us at least 3 months to have a positive cash flow but we are already there…We’ve had a lot of people respond and congratulate us on our idea, which is really nice…”
Do you find it difficult to conduct business down here?
“That is an interesting question. I don’t think that we have really run into any sort of obstacles that we weren’t anticipating yet but we shall see. Business here is very different though; things here are a lot less formal, sometimes a little bit more shocking. But no, I am having a lot of fun with it.”
It seems like everyday more and more expats are flocking down to Argentina to set-up-shop. Why do you think that is?
“You see it a lot more frequently. I think because of the economic situation…people who have a little bit of money saved up find that this is a good opportunity to do something else because it is not that easy in the U.S…You can get a lot more bang for the buck. Also, there is a lot more international business happening now…a lot more business that takes place on an international level and when people go outside of the country they see things that they are not used to and they bring them back with them. People are more open to that kind of thing.”
Do you have any recommendations for other expats, thinking about coming down to start a new business in Buenos Aires?
“I think you should do something that is really cool…something that you can have fun with. Maybe it is not a big deal but I think also that because of the political situation and the change in leadership people here are a little more open to American things…the environment right now is a lot more open to people coming from the outside and starting things up here. The thing is really thinking about what do you miss from back home and going with that and being very open to a different work environment.”
By Gavin Anstey |
