For Orlando Villarreal and Riury Rodríguez, luck and chance go hand in hand when it comes to putting their efforts into an initiative. In late 2019, and without imagining what would happen months later, they created Producciones Villarreal, an enterprise dedicated to the production and marketing of construction finishing materials, including paints, putties, mortars.
The business did not become operational until March 2020, days before the COVID-19 pandemic forced lockdowns and the closure of significant sectors in Cuba. Today, the venture stands out for the use of natural resins, instead of chemical components, which are less contaminating to health and the environment.
Creating a business, excelling and growing in adverse circumstances was never easy, but nobody said it was impossible. For this reason, we at Negolution spoke to Riury Rodríguez, one of the founders.
“The year 2020 was extremely difficult. The impossibility of moving between provinces to buy raw materials, the reduction of people’s consumption levels and their concentration on food, plus the closure of many enterprises and institutions, our main clients, were among the most important impacts we suffered,” he explained.
However, they have taken advantage of this time to innovate, grow in logistics, equipment and, above all, in sales and distribution channels. “It has also been a period of much learning, of seeking solutions that allow us to stay in the market and even grow.”
The concept of ecological paint/products came about by chance. In the search for suppliers of raw materials to ensure sustainability, they ended up discovering this path. However, it has of course been a process characterized by a lot of research in order to master the fields of action and applicability. “We even studied master’s theses at the Central University of Las Villas,” Riury noted.
“It really is a fascinating concept. The possibility of offering such a superior product, which is friendly to its users and the environment, and above all, offers quality levels similar to traditional products,” he stressed.
Recognized as a Local Development Project of the municipality of Güira de Melena, in Artemisa province, the main focus of Producciones Villarreal is to work with the housing program in the municipality and wider province and thus become strategic partners. They also work in cooperative productions with marketing enterprises that make their products available to the population at preferential prices.
They currently have two physical points of sale: one in Güira, where the mini-industry is located, and another in Havana. The business also has a website (www.produccionesvillarreal.wordpress.com) and a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ProduccionesVillarreal) to promote its services.
Among the aspirations of these two entrepreneurs are to scale up their productive capacities, access financing for technological investments and export a 100 percent Cuban product.
If the pandemic has taught Cuban entrepreneurs anything, it is that the secret lies in perseverance. “We are very proud of the product we have created. Not only because it is completely Cuban, but also because it responds to a crucial problem in Cuban society,” Riury concluded.
