Paolo Mazza is General Manager of Mercado Circular, a company focused on helping other brands convert their linear value chains into circular ones and transform disposable mass consumption categories into one with returnability.
Mercado Circular is a company that has 5 years of history, which was born from a family business, with more than 130 years of history and that has been passed down from generation to generation. From its origins to today it has mutated a lot, adjusting to social, economic and environmental changes, to today, have its focus on helping companies and brands that want to convert their linear value chains into a circular one, in addition to transforming consumption categories. massive disposable, in one with purpose of returnability
Its work modality is B2B, which means that Mercado Circular provides services to other companies, with the aim of improving the sales of the products and goods they offer. That is, a commercial transaction between companies.
In 2016, the Rep Law was approved in Chile, whose main instrument is Extended Producer Responsibility (REP), a mechanism by which producers of priority products are responsible for the organization and financing of waste management. derived from the marketing of their products in the country. Given this, Mercado Circular arises from the question of its creators about whether it could sell without having a container. After much analysis, its founders decided in 2017 to venture into this idea and launch a pilot model to test public reception. As its owner tells it, they did not want to study it through a market study, because they considered that seeing it in practice would allow them much more to understand the behavior of users with the brand and their experience with it.
This is how they found a location in Viña del Mar, where they tried their luck selling cleaning products in bulk, inviting the consumer to live an experience that rescued the ancient traditions of our generations. added to new technology. The experience quickly gained followers, who went with their containers to fill them with the products they needed, thus generating a circular economy. Little by little they discovered that customers liked the idea, so expanding took more strength, as did improving their technology. When finding out about machines, programs, software, among other things, they discovered that the information and products available were almost non-existent worldwide, so they decided to start conducting their own research.
In the midst of all this, the Pandemic appeared which put them in check, but also encouraged them to expand their business. They understood that the conditions were adverse, that people only had two weekly permits of two hours each, therefore they preferred to buy everything in one place, and not go with their packaging for 4 or 5 products to a single store. That is why Mercado Circular decided to take its products where its customers went and install self-service dispensing machines in strategic locations. «Over time we realized that these are not just machines, they allow us to track all the traceability of the product. Associated with that, in the machines we have software that allows us to see everything online, from cameras with microphones where we can see the interaction of the customer with the machine, until the stock of the products is verified. The machine is our creation, not from the parts, but from its functions, we thought what we wanted to achieve and we made it possible,” said Poalo Mazza. Today the machine offers to buy or refill, therefore, it has the ability to recognize whether the container is new or has already been used, which also influences the value of the final product, encouraging container reuse and reducing contamination.
Paolo Mazza indicated that “There is no time, collaboration is needed now. A multidisciplinary approach is needed, from academics above all, for me a great absence that does not put knowledge in the circular economy and the environment.” Along the same lines, he pointed out that it is important for people to become aware of their own responsibility with the environment, understanding the tons of garbage that people themselves throw away, inviting them to prefer this new form of market, much more conscious and friendly to the environment. environment and the next generations. Circular Trade is a company more than 130 years old, which has the faithful commitment to think about the world that we are leaving to future generations, to forge a seal that can be passed on from generation to generation, understanding their needs and challenges. Likewise, contributing to a 50-year vision where Chilean homes are zero waste.
Source: https://laquintaemprende.cl/