The Hispanic Retail Chamber welcomes the company MELAR 100% Argentina to its Retail SBG Purchasing Center to begin the distribution and marketing process. Below we present Melar available for the supermarket segment. info@retailsbg.com
The story of Melar begins in 1924, with a couple of Ukrainian immigrants, who were dedicated to agriculture in their native country and who once settled in Argentina decided to venture into beekeeping, with hives in Navarro and Azul, province of Buenos Aires.
Until 1976 Melar was a company dedicated to honey, production and sale in bulk exclusively. That year they began to distribute through their brand, Aquel Viejo Cosaco, with simple but striking packaging. The first boxes were made with basic and austere banana crates. They sold 18 half-kilo units, but they began to diversify and have more and more packaging options until they had more than 30, including glasses, jugs, jars, bottles, among others that began to be very recognized and characteristic. They also diversified and marketed with other brands, but all the honey came from the same place, produced by them, becoming the absolute leaders in the fractionated honey sales market throughout the country.
Already in 1986 another milestone occurred in the company because Melar began to export honey to Bolivia and Brazil among other countries; while at the same time they ventured into the import of royal jelly and pollen, taking over an incipient local market with a lot of projection.
In those years of growth and expansion, the children of the couple began to have more and more participation in the company and decided to buy two trucks to distribute. The theft of one of those vehicles forced them to spend more time in the office because they had no way to move and take the products to their destination; which was positive because they began to dedicate more time to strategic issues instead of operational issues and in this way new ideas emerged for the growth of the company.
Among these winds of change, they began to see the import of spices as a business possibility, since they were not satisfied with being a single-product company. Thus, in 1988 the first shipment of oregano arrived from Chile, a bet that paid off and opened the doors for other products.
Despite being a small family business, Melar was always about taking risks and venturing into new businesses and betting a lot on marketing and being where they believed they should be, such as fairs, La Rural exhibitions for 20 years and other events to show themselves. like a great company.
The 90’s were a decade of growth and incorporation of new products until the 2000s when the couple’s grandchildren came to work in the company. Being both professionals and graduates in Business Administration, they began to think about making the company’s processes and staff even more professional. From that moment on, a concrete growth plan was established with calculated projections and estimates. Thus, since those years in which they had a 300 m2 warehouse in front of their house, in Villa Ballester, they later bought a 2000 m² warehouse in San Martin, one block from Route 8, and currently they have a modern 15 thousand m² plant. AAA and gluten-free certified in Tortuguitas.
Melar today
With more than 1000 products from 50 different origins, in addition to having its own brand -El Cosaco- in full swing and expansion, with more than 80% of the employees (non-operators) with a professional degree, supplying some of the companies largest food companies in the country and the world, with a healthy and organized work environment, with international quality certifications, with permanent stock and working with seriousness and responsibility, Melar is on track to celebrate 100 years in the country in 2024 with all the expectation to continue growing and supplying an increasingly competitive and quality market.
Ditributor : Retail SBG Purchasing Center info@retailsbg.com
