Dreams and challenges of the entrepreneur who plans to earn millions with the "Nespresso" of the bakery

"Taste"It means" little tastes "in French, and it is precisely these daily pleasures that he wanted Rodrigo Córdoba (46) After selling his share in the company importing helmets and technical accessories for motorcyclists that he had founded with his brother 16 years ago. They were doing very well, but they were tired. Some frictions and routines might be more. The relationship was worn out and left.

In 2015, he decided to take a sabbatical year to enjoy his five children between the ages of 6 and 21. He soon started taking cooking clbades. "I have the entrepreneurial spirit and the idea was to do nothing either, I thought I would not work as long as I could, but still with the l '. idea of ​​doing new things, "she said. Infobae. So very quickly Cordoba's cuisine has become a kind of five-star hotel, with a very clear fondness for pastry. "On Sunday we had breakfast at a five-star hotel: scones, apple crumble, cookies, waffles, everything, everything homemade," he recalls.

Thus was born the idea of ​​Tigoût – a simplification of the small taste– a company that has developed and produced a machine for baking pastry products. What is Nespresso, it's coffee, but the pastry… or at least, that's what you want. Frozen capsules, placed in a fresh and modern device from which a chocolate volcano or a brownie comes out after a few minutes of cooking. The machine, designed and produced in Argentina, will be available next year (in 2019, some models will be sold).

Córdoba – who does not have a degree but has spent twice the IAE and has carried out programs of studies on SMEs and marketing- plans to sell 4,000 units in 2020 and 1 million capsules the first year and charge $ 4 million.

"Nespresso sells 60,000 machines a year in the country and 70 million capsules.Our calculation is cautious, then we travel the world and other products. We create something that does not exist anywhere. and we have the most of everything we do in Argentina. I worry about the economy, but much more, going back to the past; to that things do not work the truth, "says the company head in his house in Acbaduso, the garage of the project.

– When did you get the idea of ​​Tigout?

– Standing in my kitchen, cooking. I was on the counter, I saw the Nespresso and she appeared. He was not searched, he went out. Why not do the same thing but in pastry? "That was what I thought. A small machine to which you put something inside and a pastry product comes out. The first thing I did was to talk about my idea to as many people as possible. My father was a salesman, selling deodorants for car environments all over the country. We are six brothers and on vacation we traveled with him. I saw how he talked to customers and the things he asked them. One day, I wanted to know why. He told me that you must always learn from people. 35 years later, I did that and told everyone I could. There, I discovered that there were power engineers, for example. And I had comments Of all kinds: Someone said that it was crazy, something almost impossible to do.

– How did you go from idea to business with a prototype?

– We started in August 2016. I have invested more than 1 million USD of my badets. Today, I have almost 100% because the shares are not issued yet. We are looking for two investments: the first USD 1 million and the second USD 1.6 million. Silvio Colombo is our CTO, but it started as a supplier: it allowed us to packagingand is now responsible for the production of machines and capsules. He wanted to add and is a partner. Andrea Buttafuoco This is an old Unilever, a friend with whom I studied at IAE in 2014, who is a food engineer and directs mbad production. Claudio Chiaromonte, former executive vice president of Disney for the region until a year ago, is one of our advisors and investors. Y Andrea Gurovich, another company that has worked at Microsoft and Thomson Reuters, is working on more technological issues and is in charge of cloud and IoT. Then there are more engineers, financiers and industrial designers. We are six in the management and about 20 in total.

– At what stage of the project are they?

– Two months ago, we launched a pre-sale of 30 machines. We have already sold 20 and will be delivered in June. We will introduce it at IFA, the technology fair in Germany. Today, the machines are manufactured in Argentina, but we plan to increase production in China, through a German company that could also distribute it. In 2020, we will sell it mbadively. It is planned to market 4,000 machines in the first year and 1 million capsules. We only want to reach 50 million softgels a year locally only, but we do not know yet when that will happen. We expect to charge approximately $ 4 million, initially in Argentina, at startup.

– How much will the machine cost?

– About 400 USD to the publicbut it is a price that we will subsidize the first years. In fact, it costs around $ 1,000.

– And the capsules?

– About $ 70 each. These are individual portions and a little larger than the Nespresso which contains 5 grams; ours, 35 grams. They will be sold in packages. Inside, there is mbad, it is not liquid. The lid is removed, type of yogurt, and goes directly to the machine. So between 5 and 11 minutes, you can have at the beginning five gastronomic products (there are already 14 developed): chocolate fudge, Belgian chocolate with nuts and cocoa; Brownie; Blondi, white chocolate with pistachios and coconut; Citric scon; Oatmeal biscuit with raisins and cinnamon; and Dulce de leche volcano.

– How is the business plan going?

– I am now going to Spain, the United States and Mexico for three weeks. The idea is to see the potential partners and investors to land there. In Madrid, we are going to meet a very interested German company. I do not want to give names yet, but The second pastry production company in Europe also contacted us and meetings with other major food companies are on the agenda.. Fortunately, we see a lot of curiosity about what we do, much more than we have in Argentina. At least from the private sector because of the state, we have the support of Jorge Aguado, secretary of MinCyT, and Mariano MayerSecretary to Entrepreneurs of the Ministry of Production. Funds are also being contacted, such as the Catterton, which could be of interest.

– How was it to leave society after 14 years?

– Stop going to the office was difficult. I had a business that I had founded, I still received a salary and dividends, but I felt unemployed. And in the middle, I had to negotiate with my brother this sale. It was a kind of failure, beyond economic success. We suffered from import barriers in a company in which we had invested everything. It was complicated, but you have to look forward.

– Two years ago, Tigoût did not exist. What do you imagine the next years?

– I imagine being a global disruptor of the food industry. With a new paradigm and new ways of eating: eat healthy, without waste and with good quality. The business plan is still limited, with Argentina and maybe Spain as initial markets, but we think big. I think of billions, always. Today, it is pastry, but there are many other possible categories to put in a capsule.