145EY Family Business Yearbook 2016 |144 | EY Family Business Yearbook 2016

Award winners Latin America Peru

Peruvian agribusiness Danper provides an

excellent example of how a business based in

a developing country can be both successful

financially and socially committed at the same time. It has achieved this through the efforts

of its husband-and-wife leadership team. They

have placed corporate and social responsibility

at the heart of everything the company does.

Despite having achieved success in a relatively

short period of time, Rosario Bazán and her

husband, the founders of the business, are very

much committed to the long-term future of the

company and determined to pass it on, eventually,

to the next generation.

Europe

North America

Latin America

Asia-Pacific

Rosario BazánDanper Trujillo SAC

“When a woman takes a step forward, society as a whole advances.”

Rosario Bazán, CEO,

Danper Trujillo SAC

147EY Family Business Yearbook 2016 |146 | EY Family Business Yearbook 2016

the country. In 2014, Danper, whose main export markets are the US, Europe and Asia, had revenues of US$130m.

Entrepreneurship as basis for success

As is the case with any successful company, Danper’s achievements are down to many factors. But the vision and entrepreneurship of its founders Rosario and Jorge Arangurí are among the most important. And Danper was not the couple’s first venture. Rosario and her husband had previously set up a company exporting pineapples. “We had the experience in agriculture to help us move to the next stage,” she says.

An opportunity soon arose to start a new company with a Danish friend of Rosario and Jorge’s, an asparagus specialist called Arne Hensel Berg. The expertise of all the partners in agribusiness, and Peru’s excellent environment for producing

asparagus, meant that it was the vegetable they first decided to start producing.

The dry valleys north of the Peruvian capital Lima are among the few places in the world where asparagus can be grown

Danper is a Latin American business success story. Created by a husband-and-wife team, Danper has grown rapidly since it was founded in 1994. An agribusiness, the Peruvian-based company is also an exceptional example of a family business committed to its stakeholders at all levels. Indeed, Chief Executive Rosario Bazán believes that Danper’s sustainability and social commitments underpin the economic success of the company.

Danper produces nontraditional agricultural products

Danper, which is based in the northern Peruvian city of Trujillo, is one of the biggest producers in Latin America of nontraditional agricultural products, such as asparagus, artichokes, grapes, avocados and mangoes. It is also a producer of increasingly popular super grains, such as quinoa, which Danper exports, both as grain and in prepared meals, to retailers around the world.

Danper employs a workforce of 6,500 — most of whom are women — in the production, processing and exporting of its agricultural goods. The company’s farms are spread over an area of 6,000 hectares north of the capital Lima and on the south coast of Peru, as well as in the central and southern highlands of

taking advantage of the country’s environmental factors and knowledge of agriculture.”

From the start, the partners wanted Danper to be committed to the highest production standards. The company set up a quality-control system known as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), and received an internationally recognized certificate endorsing this commitment to quality. This enabled Danper to enter the North American market, which now accounts for 45% of its export revenues.

and harvested all year round. The partners decided to call the company Danper, a mixture of “Danmark,” the Danish name for Denmark, and “Peru.” Part of the funding for the new company came from the Danish Government-owned development group, the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU).

“We started with just 150 workers,” says Rosario, who gained an Engineering degree and an MBA before she started working in agribusiness. “But we, along with our partners, saw a huge opportunity to create a dynamic and sustainable company,

Award winners Latin America Peru

Rosario and her husband Jorge successfully manage the company.

The executive team of Danper.

Rosario and Jorge with their children.

149EY Family Business Yearbook 2016 |148 | EY Family Business Yearbook 2016

“The ethical side is very important, and we strive to be transparent to everyone involved in the business.”Rosario Bazán

If he isn’t up to it, then it would be up to our daughter. And if she does not want the job, or is not up to the job, then we will appoint an external chief executive. The key factor is that whoever comes into the top position must share our values.”

Over a period of just 20 years, Rosario and Jorge, working with their Danish partner, have created a truly remarkable company. Danper’s success in a fiercely competitive sector is not just important to all the company’s immediate stakeholders, but also to the Peruvian economy as a whole. The inspired stewardship of Rosario and Jorge suggests that Danper’s importance to Peru will continue to grow long into the future.

Danper’s quality commitment extends to its focus on its stakeholders. Danper is one of the few companies in Peru that has obtained the highly sought-after SA8000 social accountability certification. This is an international standard for workplace quality, which recognizes a company’s ongoing commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Environmental factors, such as water management, also play a big role in Danper’s CSR commitments.

Respect for every stakeholder

“For us at Danper, it is very important to show authentic respect for our workers and to our suppliers,” says Rosario. “We don’t see our company as only a vehicle for making economic gain. The ethical side is very important, and we strive to be transparent to everyone involved in the business.”

Rosario has been acknowledged by her peers as an excellent role model for women in the agricultural sector in Peru, which has traditionally been dominated by male managers. “When I look back, I realize I’ve been the only woman for 20 years in the position of general manager in agribusiness,” she says. “But it never felt weird because, from the beginning, I have been able to grow and achieve the respect of my peers. They respect me, and thus others respect my position, regardless of gender.” She adds, “When a woman takes a step forward, society as a whole advances.”

Rosario and Jorge manage the operational side of the business and own 46% of Danper. The rest of the business is owned by their Danish partner and by their financial backer, IFU. Rosario says that Danper has drawn up a succession plan that involves one of her and her husband’s children eventually taking over the management of the business.

Their son has recently finished studying in Canada for his first degree. “We have worked for some years to establish a succession plan with our Danish partner,” she says. “We agreed that the successor should be our son, but only if he is able to develop the capabilities that he needs to take on the position.

Award winners Latin America Peru

Rosario Bazán

CEO

Company name: Danper Trujillo SAC

Generation(s): First and second

Founded: 1994 in Trujillo, Peru

Industry: Agriculture and food

Employees (2015): Approx. 6,500

Revenue (2014): US$130m

Danper is one of the few companies in Peru that has obtained the highly sought-after SA8000 social accountability certication.

Danper employs a workforce of 6,500 in the production, processing and exporting of its agricultural goods.

The company’s farms are spread over an area of 6,000 hectares in Peru.