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“Crăița Merelor” – How to turn a family business into a successful brand
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Keywords:

agribusiness rural brand creation


Description:

This is the story of Corina Oprea and her sister Alina, two young entrepreneurs with a corporate professional background, who, in less than two years, as co-owners of an apple orchard in Voinești, they have turned a 60 years-old family business into a nationally-know brand - “Crăița Merelor” (“The Apples’ Princess” -  an approximate translation).

Apart from apple production, they offer 100% natural high quality apple juice, but also a premim accommodation unit - Craita Merelor "The PLACE", just 10 minutes of walking away from the orchard, and organize amazing activities such as 'Apple Picking Events', Special Events Photography, Picnics or Brunches in the Orchard and Yoga and Femininity Retreats.

The whole family is involved, but the two sisters are the ‘creatives’: they take care of the brand’s visibility, social media presence, event organization, online deliveries, customer support, creation of new products.

According to Corina, the main success factors were their corporate professional experience, and knowledge of marketing, sales, web-design and branding, communication, time and project management, finance, accounting, social media management, graphic editing and much more, but especially passion and determination.

As main difficulties, they mention finding appropriate workforce, new markets, and high initial investments, because agribusinesses take time to develop and start becoming profitable.

The feedback from clients is highly positive and motivating, the demand is growing, so they aim for diversification and development in the following years.


Bibliography

Business website (RO only) https://craitamerelor.ro/
Business website (RO and EN) https://theplace.craitamerelor.ro/ 
You Tube video (Romanian only): https://youtu.be/KiEPW__MJ5M
Interview with Corina Oprea (Romanian Only)



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