In the growing market of health and well-being, Colombian stores are all too often limited to old-style herbal shops displaying jars and vials hidden behind a counter. Cristina Martinez has transformed this model by launching Biomarket, a chain of modern natural goods stores catering to those looking to live a complete natural lifestyle. The stores’ bright design, modern technology and extensive product range set them apart from the ‘old school’.
Campaigns to promote sustainability
‘We stock well-being products, health foods and cosmetics and are pioneers in that our stores include lifestyle sections such as decorations, aromatherapy and even native orchids,’ Cristina explains. In-store campaigns also focus on promoting awareness about sustainability, biodiversity and consumer responsibility, topics that are close to Cristina’s heart but often unfamiliar to customers in emerging markets.
Cristina grew up in Bogota in an industrious family. Her mother started work at 16 and studied for a law degree while working and raising her family. Her father is an entrepreneur and pioneer of the natural goods sector in Colombia, founding Naturcol, a well-known phytopharmaceutical firm where Cristina learned the ropes of running a business and developed her knowledge of the health industry.
‘I loved working in the family firm, but felt I needed to add my own perspective,’ she says. She applied for an internship with BioTrade, the UN initiative for sustainable transformation of native biodiversity, which turned into a four-year post that took her from Switzerland to Africa and Latin America. ‘Working for BioTrade was one of the most important experiences of my life. It made me conscious of how crucial the social dimension of entrepreneurship is to sustainable development.’
Naturally and socially engaged
Biomar Naturales currently employs 40 people, the vast majority of whom are women, and offers its staff a comprehensive compensation and training package. Colombia has high unemployment at 13%, of which 55% are women, and many families are headed by single female breadwinners. The company intends to go further than merely encouraging female employment, however. It will offer incentive schemes for women employees to open their own franchise after a number of years of performance and commitment to the firm, which could translate into lower set-up costs for their Biomarket outlet. ‘It’s a win-win situation,’ Cristina says. ‘This type of incentive gives these women true empowerment and is an effective way of keeping trained employees with the brand!’
Cristina is committed to entrepreneurship and is a guest lecturer to final year entrepreneurial students in industrial engineering, which she studied herself. ‘There isn’t a single aspect of setting up my own business that hasn’t rung a bell with what I learned at university,’ she says. Her experience is no doubt valuable: Biomar Naturales has been profitable since its second year of operation and now has 15 stores in 9 cities nationwide. But success can come with its own challenges, of course: ‘The day I got married,’ she says, ‘we opened three stores!’
