Dubai – “It’s only for a year. Afterwards, I’ll return to Morocco to open an office in Marrakech.” With this thinking, Moroccan Kenza Fertonani landed in Curitiba in 2009. Selected via the platform Aiesec, which connects companies interested in hiring foreign exchange students, she began as a trainee at Nutrimental, a manufacturer of energy bars, among other products.
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Almost nine years later, this Sunday (18), sitting at the company’s stand at Gulfood, in Dubai, Fertonani, now married with a Brazilian man and four months pregnant, she laughed looking back at her thinking at the time. “I was persuaded to stay after the first year. Then I just stayed a little longer… Today, my life is in Brazil,” she said.
She’s currently the head of the exports department at Nutrimental, which is located in São José dos Pinhais (Curitiba metro area). She’s at Gulfood because, ironically, the company doesn’t export to Arabs. “When I came in, the focus was the African market. Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia are some of our markets. We also export to Latin America. There are over 30 destination countries, but none of them is Arab,” explained the executive.
According to Fertonani, Nutrimental’s exports manager at the time selected her because the company was coming strong in the African continent via Lebanese distributors. They were searching for someone who spoke Arabic, English and French to deal with these distributors – her profile. Portuguese came later: “I learned it in three months, talking with my Curitiba family [at first, she lived at a Brazilian family’s house]. To know French helped a lot,” she said.
She entered Nutrimental when the company decided to increase exports, which, by then, were very timid. In the beginning the are had only her, her manager and another employee. Currently, the staff has 10 employees. “We’re an independent department. We have our own marketing team, we have autonomy, I answer directly to the company’s CEO,” says the executive proudly. Last year, exports accounted for 17% of the popular energy bar manufacturer – another irony: the most exported products are infant formula and cereals for babies.
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It’s the second time that she’s attending Gulfood with Nutrimental. The first was in 2010, but the company decided to wait a little longer. “Now, we’re ready to move forward in the Middle East,” she says. Fertonani explained that Nutrimental is seeking distributors. “To send only a container is not in our plans. We’re seeking partnerships, more of a long-term deal,” she said.
Some buyers from the region went through her stand in the fair’s first day, but also people from India and Pakistan, plus African clients and from other countries.
Arabic is still sharp for the Moroccan – especially since her staff was reinforced with a former college colleague – the business executive Mehdi Achek. However, to return to Casablanca, where she used to work for Unilever, or Marrakech, where she was born, is not in her plans.
“They put their faith in me and it worked. We now have a wonderful team, dedicated, aligned with the company and with an independent structure. Besides, I have adapted to the Brazilian culture and my parents love Brazil, they always visit. I was welcomed and now a Brazilian-Moroccan is coming,” she said, while running her hands over her belly. To return to Morocco, by the look of it, only for a few days – and, preferably, to seal a deal to send containers.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
