Salutef, a company awarded by MAGRAMA in its 5th Edition of Excellence Awards for Innovation for rural women

After greeting the Honorable Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Ms. Isabel García Tejerina, and the attendees, the awardee first congratulated the other recipients and encouraged all women in rural areas to follow their example as businesswomen and entrepreneurs.

The Salutef awardee continued her speech as follows...

Our dedication and work are focused on promoting rural women who strive, day by day and side by side, to make the agricultural world sustainable. And all of this in a world full of controversies; demanding, harsh, and ever-changing. Rural women fight to occupy the place we deserve, to be visible, and to demonstrate that we also have a role in activities that are still dominated by a highly male-oriented pattern: the agricultural world.

The rural environment is full of opportunities for women; today’s awards make this evident. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore that the situation is difficult in many areas, including rural regions. Even so, women know—and have discovered—that economic development is possible there, and that we have much to offer to make this a reality.

Today’s award is a recognition not only of us but also of all those who came before us and who taught us the value of the land and its messages. The land is and continues to be life.

Many women, often anonymously, struggle every day to maintain their villages and family units. Almost always with great effort, little support, and few rewards. Despite the difficulties, their enthusiasm, fighting spirit, and innovation are best reflected in the results. Today, this recognition is represented by these awards.

I look around and find myself surrounded by friends from different areas of my life, who wanted to share this honor with me.

Born in Palencia, I left my village years ago with the dream of achieving a goal in my life. After a long process of training and professional effort, one day I found myself unemployed, like so many other women, both rural and urban. Despite my qualifications—PhD in Agronomic Engineering and researcher in agri-food topics—and the pride I feel in my profession, I was forced to choose between emigrating from Spain in search of a job aligned with my training or reinventing myself and launching my own personal and business project.

It was during this period that the idea of creating SALUTEF came to me, a company that packages, markets, and distributes nationally and internationally a little-known cereal, TEFF, a cereal of Ethiopian origin, like coffee, but whose origins date back 5,000 years, as archaeological findings in Ancient Egypt have shown.

This TEFF, cultivated in Spain since 2007, originally started as a small research project aimed at introducing it to our agriculture, promoting biodiversity, and opening new markets. Today, I am happy to share that Spain is the third-largest producer in the world and the leading exporter of this ancient cereal.

Entrepreneurship has not been easy, and I would not be here without the help, love, and constant support of my family, friends, and professionals from the College of Agronomic Engineers. In particular, I want to highlight the collective of rural women’s associations that provided me with every human resource imaginable to reach this point and defend this cereal we believe in.

From a small village, I set out to bring all the benefits of Teff to people through online sales on my website, www.salutef.com, offering products made from this cereal throughout Spain and abroad. I would like you to value, as much as I do, the nutritional properties it provides.

The product is distributed in various business formats such as flakes, flour, etc., suitable for intolerant and allergic consumers—groups largely neglected by the food industry. Currently, I am also working on other product formats aimed at athletes and healthy lifestyle enthusiasts.

Before concluding, I want to highlight the projects of the other awardees and those who submitted their candidacies. Among those who received awards, there are very interesting projects linked to agricultural production. These projects address the main challenge of rural activity: generational succession. We are women who have successfully incorporated technology, innovation, and a vision for the future into our products. We have done this by improving the production processes, recovery, and new services in our ancestors’ farms.

In addition to reiterating my gratitude for the distinction that brings us together here, I renew my commitment and hopes. With the reception of this award, which I share with everyone—especially the officials of this Ministry—the work of women in rural areas becomes visible. I hope that the media will publicize it so that women’s projects in agriculture continue to grow, not only in Spain but in an increasingly globalized world. Enthusiasm, creativity, and hard work are our hallmarks.