ARETE STUDENTS' PERFECT PITCH IN PERU

An intrepid group of Arete students embarked on a once in a lifetime summer programme to Peru to combine study at one of the most prestigious universities in Peru with a management consultancy project for one of the country's most exciting and fast-growing businesses. 

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Arete's Peruvian Summer Programme saw a group of Arete student spend four weeks in one of the five cradles of civilization, the home of the Incan Empire and one of the world's fastest growing economies. The team's itinerary involved two weeks in the historic Incan capital city of Cusco, 3,000 meters above sea-level, where they took part in an international programme at The Universidad del Pacifico exploring trade, entrepreneurship and international cooperation from the perspective of a developing country. The study programme involved an examination of emerging markets, international trade, opportunities and barriers, international cooperation and entrepreneurship in emerging markets and included visits to several local businesses. 

Outside of the classroom, Arete students had the opportunities to explore this historic city and its surroundings. A guided historical tour of Cusco included a visit to the Cathedral containing one of the best repositories of colonial art from the Cusco school, Qoricancha (the Temple of the Sun), Sacsayhuaman (the giant fortress above the city of Cusco and the center of ceremonies for the famous Inti Raymi, or Incan Sun Festival) and the labyrinthine ruins of Qengo, Puca Pucara and Tambomachay. Students also enjoyed a trip to the Valley of the Incas and a full-day excursion to Machu Picchu and learnt about the historic importance of the indigenous coca plant through a chocolate making class and traditional handwoven textile industry courtesy of the local lama and alpaca population and some very experienced villagers. 

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The group then flew to the modern Preuvian capital city of Lima where they were immediately set to work on a professional management consultancy project to explore opportunities for growth in Asia on behalf of Disfruta, one of Peru's fastest growing fruit juice companies.

Disfruta, founded by brother-sister pair Eduardo and Azucena Gutierrez (named as number 11 on Forbe's list of top entrepreneurial companies in Latin America in 2015), is modernizing the juice industry in Peru by pioneering a chain of juice bars designed to appeal to sophisticated, health-conscious, consumers. Our students were commissioned by Eduardo and Azucena to undertake a two week project to identify opportunities for the business to expand into Asia and report back to the Disfruta Board.

As part of the project, the Arete team attended presentations about the business from Director and Senior Management, undertook site visits, examined manufacturing processes and sampled the Disfruta product. In order to explore opportunities in Asia, starting with the China market, the team undertook primary research in the form of a survey which returned over 300 responses and extensive desk research into the existing condition and opportunities in the Chinese fruit juice market.

Their final presentation was a comprehensive, hour-long pitch to Eduardo and his Senior Management team which clearly impressed the successful entrepreneur. Eduardo commented: "There are ideas from this presentation that I plan to act on right away, some great suggestions which we hadn't thought of. We had a team from Harvard Business School here recently to analyse our business and this presentation was more impressive." Following their successful presentation to the Disfruta Board the team celebrated with a well-deserved dinner and a number of Pisco Sours!

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Somehow, despite the intense project workload, the team also managed to explore the local culture in Lima with tours of the historic city and Larco Herrera Museum, Pachamac and Gold Museum, Pisco tasting in the vineyards at Ica. They even managed a local cookery class where this multi-talented team learnt how to make local delicacies including Lomo Saltado, Leche de Tigre, Cebiche, Aji de Gallina, Causa with prawns and huancaina sauce and Causa Limena style.

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 Not bad for a four week schedule. Team, take a bow!