English version
Marisol, the lady owner of “Supermercado Marisol”, right on the central square of Vilcabamba in the Loja province of Ecuador, feels strongly about the place she lives in. “It is a unique place in the world”, she says, “…unique for its climate and unique for its water. This is why, she continues, here we find not only north americans but people from all over the world”.
The presence of so many foreigners in Vilcabamba can be seen as a curse or a blessing or somewhere in between depending on how one looks at it. For Marisol it is definitely a blessing, not out of sheer luck, but rather because she is a person who knows how to successfully tap into a tourist market.
“Make the client feel comfortable”, “make sure the client finds what he/she is after”, “provide the best possible quality at the best price”, “organic, natural, locally grown”, “ethics, honesty…”, these are words that sound true when she speaks them and these qualities appeal to the international audience.
Marisol is very busy, and I mean VERY, all the time. I have known her for years and have always been impressed with how she manages to attend several clients at the same time with speed, a smile and without getting confused. She knows where everything is and of course, a common thing in Ecuador that never stops baffling me, she knows the exact price of every single item in her shop. And items she has many.
I had to wait for some time as she was attending many customers on that Saturday morning. After a while, we still managed to escape outside for a moment and we sat down at a table. I record the conversation to make sure I don’t forget anything important. She looks a little tense at the beginning, maybe concerned about what my line of questioning will be. I reassure her that my interviews are spontaneous, friendly and that nothing nasty or unexpected will happen to her.
We chat and she gets straight to the point. Marisol means variety, quality, uncompromising service and, as much as feasible in Ecuador, natural and organic. That is the core of her business. The rest is decoration.
“Innovando innovando innovando, buscando cosas nuevas, siempre de calidad y al mejor precio para poner en nuestro local, es la razón del éxito, la calidad y el buen precio…”
“Que el cliente este bien, que este a gusto, que encuentre todas las cosas que necesita sin mayor dificultad…”
Often clients inquire about the availability of such and such product and Marisol wastes no time looking for a potential source. Some products are sourced locally in Vilcabamba like for example her 100% natural coconut oil.
Others come from Chaguarpamba, Saraguro o Cuenca, others are imported from Peru (tumeric, maca). Whether locally sourced or from further away, she always look for quality at competitive prices.
For example, she buys bags of peanuts from Chaguarpamba (one of the cantons that belongs to the Loja province and that we visited recently). Then she gets the peanuts roasted locally. She does not add salt because many clients prefer to add their own, for example organic sea salt as opposed to the common table salt which is iodized and contains fluoride. The result are bags of chemical free unsalted peanuts. She also makes peanut butter.
Other flag products are organic cacao, the maca root powder, curcuma (a spice originally from India which is called “tumeric” in English and has numerous benefits for the health), wholemeal flower and many others. She also has organic butter from Saraguro.
As far as mineral water is concerned, quality also prevails. She sells a pristine mineral water from the Cotopaxi province (north of Ecuador) containing traces of gold and silver particles and also a local water brand containing 22 minerals including selenium.
By far what Supermercado Marisol sells the most are fruits and vegetables, she explains. Here again, she differentiates herself from the others by having a good selection of organic products.
I spent some time on that day chatting with people by the entrance while looking at the fruits. There were custard apples (chirimoyas) of impressive size and a variety of other fruits among which I noticed a cardboard box of one of my favorite, the dragon fruit, aka “pitahaya”. On the photo below, two expats exchange enthusiastic ideas about organic agriculture while one of them holds a chirimoya (1st photo) or a pitahaya (2nd photo) in his hand.
By the way, talking abut pitahayas, a few years ago I got some baby plants from a farmer in Vilcabamba. They never grew well maybe because our soil has too much clay in it and is not really suitable for these plants that need lots of drainage. Nevertheless, once only, one of the plants had a flower and I cannot resist the temptation to share a photo of it here because it was one of the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen. The pitahaya plant always blossoms at night (I believe, I am no expert). It lasts only one night. The next day the flower dies and then slowly the fruit takes its place. I only had one fruit once, not really a striving business for me.
I saw many expats entering and leaving the store but also many locals of all age groups. The place is always like a beehive.
Marisol works with her husband Wilson and there is a lady providing help as well. She could definitely do with one more pair of hands.
I asked Marisol about her dreams.
“Sueños? Seria un local espacioso que brinda comodidad al cliente”.
My dreams? More space, she says, a place where people feel more comfortable.
She is currently expanding, has remodeled the ground floor area and will have a second floor soon.
I ask Marisol what is the most important reason for her success. She crosses her hands, raises her head, looking strong while at the same time sweet and sensitive:
“Lo primero es la etica. La etica en los precios, la etica en los productos. Tiene que ser precio justo cantidad justa”.
First comes ethics, ethics with regards to the prices and the products. We want the right quality and quantity for the right price.
I can confirm from personal experience that I have often found her prices to be more than fair, even sometimes lower that the big supermarket chains in Loja.
I like her relaxed no-nonsense attitude with simple hassles like empty beer bottles. In most tiendas, one can only return the exact number of beer bottles that one bought from that same place. Well, I never remember where exactly I bought this or that beer, some times it could be from her but it could also be a bottle I bought from another shop or even in Loja. No worries, she takes them all back and pays in cash no questions asked. This is the right business attitude.
In conclusion, it is easy to see why Marisol is a successful business woman. She is intelligent, extremely dedicated and most importantly she listens to what her customers or would be customers have to say.
My only observation is that many times she looks a little drained and that the place can be a little chaotic. On the other hand, her tiredness may be due to the enormous effort she is currently putting in remodeling her store and, as far as chaos goes, well, a reasonable level of “colorful Latino chaos” is part of what this beautiful country has on offer for all of us.
Thumbs up!
Pierre Volter, January 25 2016
bbxmusic.com
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Pierre,
Are raw milk and cheeses available in or near Loja?
Thanks and greetings from El Paso Texas
Sure. They sell raw milk at the markets in Loja and their traditional cheese available everywhere (quesillo) is unpasteurized. In Vilcabamba I am sure it is available too. I shop more in Loja.