Championing a sense and taste of place: Aeropuertos Uruguay, Britt Shop and Sembrando join forces to support national entrepreneurship

URUGUAY. The Sembrando programme, Aeropuertos Uruguay and Britt Shop (together with sister brand Morpho Travel Experience) have launched the first gondola of products from Uruguayan national enterprises at Carrasco Airport to champion Uruguayan entrepreneurs and artisanship.

Eight enterprises from different parts of the country were selected from more than 300 nominations after applying to a request for submissions from Sembrando.

The Britt Shop gondola was inaugurated by the Founder of Sembrando, Lorena Ponce de León, and Sembrando Executive Director Andrea Bellolio; Ministry of Tourism officials; and executives from Aeropuertos Uruguay and Britt Shop. Lorena Ponce de León (see panel at foot of story) is a renowned Uruguayan landscape architect and the wife of Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou.

Visitors to the Britt Shop, located on the second floor of the international boarding area, can discover local handicrafts and gastronomy products from JotaPé Atelier, Maracuyá (passion fruit) and entretelas leathergoods, Confección Gabylu leather, and Sabiá olive oil – all from Montevideo.

The retailer is also offering Poppy jewellery from Canelones; Las Tacuaras dulce de leche from Paysandú; Sabores del Geoparque jams from Flores in the southwest; and PaCampaña wool from Salto in northwestern Uruguay.

“The Uruguayan entrepreneurial ecosystem is very rich, full of products of very high value, and these initiatives allow us to continue growing and promoting its development,” said Ponce de León.

“Being represented in a place like Britt Shop in the country’s main air terminal represents an international business opportunity, since a large number of foreign travellers will be able to discover quality and native Uruguayan products and share them in other corners of the world.”

“Joining the reach of the Britt Shop brand, which serves as an international benchmark for local crafts by operating 80 stores in 11 countries, added to the 60,000 passengers that circulate daily through the Carrasco Airport, makes this alliance a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs,” said Bellolio.

{Lorena Ponce de León serves as a remarkable and passionate unofficial ambassador for Uruguayan products. Here she is shown inaugurating a stand at Expo Dubai 2020 for the Sembrando programme.}

Aeropuertos Uruguay Commercial Director Matías Carluccio said, “As the gateway to the country, it is important for the airport to be a promoter and champion in publicising our national culture to the world. That is why it is a pleasure to be able to facilitate this type of initiative, which, in addition to promoting the artisanship of Uruguayans, offers a unique platform to showcase the work of our entrepreneurs”.

Britt Shop representative Alberto Pérez Ibarra Alberto – Corporate Director of Operations at Morpho Travel Experience – commented,  “Soon these products will be travelling to international destinations where many consumers will be able to live a bit of the Uruguayan experience. We hope this initiative will motivate and arouse interest in visiting this beautiful country and experiencing tourism here.”

The concept of Sense of Place (we have always given it capital letters, denoting the importance we place on it) has become one of the most widely used terms in airport retail and food & beverage but not one universally well executed, writes Martin Moodie.

A token (and often overpriced) souvenirs offer does not in my view constitute genuine ‘destination merchandise’ nor does it evoke any meaningful Sense of Place. As gateways to a city, region or country, airports and their commercial partners surely have a responsibility to showcase local or national wares, skills and heritage in a credible, committed and culturally sensitive fashion. In my view such a programme should form an integral part of every airport retail tender.

One of the perennial consumer criticisms of airport duty free stores (and to some degree food & beverage outlets) is their sameness, a perhaps inevitable censure given the importance of international brand names to retailers and consumers alike. But where those very same retailers and F&B operators do have a huge opportunity to differentiate themselves lies in genuine localisation that, as here at Carrasco Airport, champions culture, craft, tastes and traditions on a global stage to an international audience. In the process, it creates employment as well as opportunities for small enterprises that play a critical role in the creation of any country’s diverse tapestry of products.

The interpretation of Sense of Place that Britt Shop and Morpho Travel Experience have for so long and so dutifully embraced finds an ideal partner in the beautifully conceived and articulated Sembrando programme. It is an alliance to be warmly applauded.