A promising landscape/
Mirko Geremia on the future of Bolivian pulses

How did you end up working in Bolivia? What part of Brazil are you from?

I’m originally from Santa Catarina, in the south of Brazil and my company is located in the city of Corumbá, which is on the border between Brazil and Bolivia. I have Bolivian citizenship and have been working with agribusiness between the two countries for more than 20 years. I started working in bean exports in Bolivia in 1998, after being asked by a brother-in-law who worked in the industry but who unfortunately in the previous year had lost his uncle due to health problems. 


Tell us a little about the history of your company.

In the early years, Bolivia was just starting to learn about bean cultivation; consumption in the country was quite low, and still is to this day. Yields were low and we didn’t have a great hold on the market. Over the years, however, Bolivia found an attractive market in neighbouring Brazil and gradually increased its planted area and production volumes with Brazil as the largest buyer. We now produce more than 70 thousand tons per year.

Bolivia currently produces all year round. Today, Safras Corretora de Cereais, through its alliances with large Brazilian companies, consolidates more than 90% of the negotiations between these two countries, increasingly strengthening professional ties between suppliers and clients, with a winning track record of trust and honesty.


What future plans can you share with us?

In alliance with Bolivian exporters, we are developing other bean varieties to help us expand into other markets. Today, Bolivia supplies beans to countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Japan but I believe we can further increase our producing areas and reach new markets. Bolivia has a unique climate which varies across the country and gives it an advantage when it comes to growing crops.

Our objectives in the near future are to supply the markets of India, the Middle East and Europe. We’re developing varieties to serve these new markets and have received positive results from our test projects with new species and seeds imported from other countries.


What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced with Safra Corretora de Cereais?

We’re struggling with the logistics issue right now, since Bolivia is one of the two countries in South America that has no access to the sea due to its location. The variation in the exchange rate also presents a challenge.


What are the differences between the black beans of Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia? 

The Brazilian varieties are always being improved, with the launches of various seed options, while in Argentina and Bolivia the beans are very similar because the Bolivian seed is mostly imported from Argentina. In practice, the final product does change due to the favourable climate and the fact that Argentine black beans have a larger grain size than ours. However, Bolivia has a small advantage in the grain cleaning process and can, as a result, provide a product with fewer defects that is polished and ready to be offered to the final consumer. It also has the advantage that, since the grain is smaller, there is no problem of cracking during processing as the grain doesn’t open, even in very dry conditions.


What varieties of beans do Bolivians consume the most?

In the late 1990s, the main crop was Rio de Janeiro beans but over the years, Bolivians migrated to black beans and today more than 60% of total domestic production is made up of this variety. There are two harvests a year: the first is called the Valley Harvest and in the second half of the year we have the Winter harvest. 


What are the main challenges for Bolivian agriculture?

In my opinion, the lack of public policy to encourage producers and the lack of government subsidies to compensate for the variation of the exchange rate and fluctuations in the external market.

In the countries of South America, there is a great capacity for territorial growth. Bolivia, in particular, has the advantage of having different regions and climates and, with proper organization and a good agricultural policy, could easily multiply its production in a relatively short period of time to be able to produce high volumes practically all year round.


What can you tell us about local consumption?

Little by little, Bolivians are eating more beans. There is a huge Brazilian consumer market within Bolivia as there are thousands of Brazilian students who go to university there and have, consequently, created a more active consumer market. Culturally, Brazilians continue to be the largest producer and consumer of beans in the world, regardless of where they live.


Where do you get your seeds? 

The best seeds come from the Bolivian Valleys region, where there is an excellent harmony between climate, temperature and humidity. There is a trade in imported seeds from Argentina and Brazil.


How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect Safra Corretora de Cereais?

In 2020, with the onset of the Pandemic, the Bolivian government took extreme precautionary measures to protect its population and each individual could leave home only once a week to go to supermarkets or pharmacies. They also restricted the sale of fuel to only 20 litres per person per week. This directly affected agricultural production, making it practically impossible to plant and harvest crops. That year, there was a drastic reduction in production, which directly affected the entire segment. There was strong demand but we had little supply.


What are the main foreign policy developments currently impacting the pulse market?

The great obstacle that we are currently facing is the exchange policy: the Bolivian peso has not oscillated against the dollar for several years and this directly affects the final value. An example is Brazil, where in 2014 the national currency went from 0.50 cents to 0.25 cents and this meant that Bolivian exporters received half the value of previous years since the final value of the product is calculated in Brazilian reais and not in weight. At this moment, it is worth it because beans are expensive in Brazil and even with the change it is still paying off, but Bolivia has suffered at least for three or four years for this reason.


What does the future hold for the Bolivian pulse market?

Our market is very discreet, but it has a lot to offer. We are developing new varieties and I am confident that we will be able to offer good quality beans at competitive prices. I think that in a few years you’ll be hearing about our products in India, the Middle East and even Europe. We’re initially aiming for quality over quantity. Bolivia is a small country compared to Brazil, for example, which is a great supplier, and our intention is to expand and not compete.


We like to know good stories, tell us something funny or interesting that has happened to you in all these years of work?

I remember a lot from the beginning in Bolivia. There were years when there was no paved road between the producing region of Bolivia to the border with Brazil. We would send the beans to customs by train. I remember that on one occasion, due to lack of warehouses, we sent several trucks down the dirt road and the beans were supposed to be at the border in two or three days but it started to rain and we had no further telephone contact with the drivers. After ten days, the convoy reached the border but we really thought that something had happened to the product. That was in 2001. I feel proud when I look back on my personal and professional growth despite so many difficulties.


How would you describe your professional and personal relationship with Bolivia?

I always talk about the opportunity I had, coming from so far away and having the opportunity to really get to know Bolivia, a country that is often spoken badly about but is actually full of hard-working, honest people. I am grateful to all the people who work in agribusiness in Bolivia, who often faced a lack of structure in their work and little support from their leaders. I can say that we have great entrepreneurs and very serious companies in Bolivia and I am grateful for the opportunity to work in such a great country.