“Sembra un simiña pa bo por cosecha mañan” is an old saying in Papiamento which means if you sow, you will reap. Jareth and Tristan Vermeulen took this quite literally when they went to the brand new office of the microfinance foundation Qredits on Aruba to ask for a loan for their farm Cunucu (farmland in Papiamento) 297. And after they filled in the necessary forms, handed over their business plan, and accepted a bit of guidance, it was a done deal. Within a month they could start sowing
Back to the Future
The two Vermeulen brothers simply love to farm.
From early childhood on they would take care of their own little farm they kept in their backyard at home with horses, pigs, geese and sheep and gleefully pass time with sowing vegetables and fruits. Or they would visit the horse breeding ranch of a relative and wander around in the area looking for wild fruits, discovering and enjoying the 18.5 acres of land and cunucu life. But as they grew up and went to study in Holland the ranch and cunucu life slowly became a distant memory.
After his study Industrial Engineering and Management, the current managing director of Cunucu297, Jareth Vermeulen signed up for the navy and enlisted in the Marine Corps. The five years younger Tristan Vermeulen started his study Sport and Physical Education. But their passion for farming and the cunucu life was not completely forgotten. As soon as his brother returned to Aruba they visited the cunucu of their relative together and came up with a plan. Years of neglect had transformed the land into mondi (bush country) and the brothers wanted to restore its former grandeur. ‘It was our dream to bring back the cunucu life, to have our own farm,
to grow and sell fruits and vegetables, and to have our own cattle’, Jareth Vermeulen explains. ‘We want to revive and reintroduce the standard and values of the cunucu life into the Aruban society; the idea of “Sembra un simiña pa bo por cosecha mañan”’, adds his brother. According to them living the cunucu life makes you belief in your future and it offers you a healthy life.
Start-up Capital
Although their mother bought the property two years ago and they started to clean up parts of the land, they needed money to really make their plan work. Jareth Vermeulen read about Qredits in the newspaper, did some research and asked around. For the brothers the micro financier definitely seemed to be the solution. With the start-up capital they could hire people who could work on the land, build the fences for the chicken coop and the goats, buy material to build the little eco lodges they want to rent out and work their way to the grand opening. They made an appointment with Oliver Vieira, the business adviser of Qredits on Aruba and explained their ideas and plans. ‘Oliver has been great. He didn’t only help us to fine-tune the business plan but he also gave us some new ideas’, Jareth Vermeulen tells enthusiastically. Qredits granted them a loan.
“Sembra un simiña pa bo por cosecha mañan”
On a Mission
Besides selling and promoting ecological home grown vegetables, fruits, eggs, goats and potting soil the brothers are also on a mission. They want to bring back the good and healthy life, because that’s what the cunucu life is for them. Which means they are also offering landscaping services to clients who don’t have the time to cultivate their garden or cunucu themselves. It means that Cunucu297 rent out plots of land to people who would like to grow their own food but don’t have the farmland to do so. For the ones who do like the country life but are not really into farming they are building the eco lodges. Because bringing back the good life is about more than just farming. In the little retreats families can enjoy the beauty, calm and peacefulness of the country, appreciate nature and have some quality time together. Last but not least part of their mission and vision is to reunite other cunukeros (owners of a cunucu) as well. ‘Aruba imports everything, which makes fruit and vegetables, food, very expensive.
Lots of people can’t afford to buy healthy food or live a healthy lifestyle. We want to change that together with the other cunukeros by producing and promoting our own home grown products.’ Jareth Vermeulen, the managing director of Cunucu297 knows what he is talking about because he is working as a project coordinator at one of Aruba’s food banks. ‘In order to make a healthy lifestyle affordable for everybody the cunukeros on the island need to unite. Together we can beat the import market and make Aruba eat its own ecological home grown healthy fruit and vegetables’, his brother adds.
Their ambition is high. Within five years and together with the other cunukeros the brothers want to own ten percent of the food market. Ten years from now they strive to have all of the 18.5 acres of their land in production working in close cooperation with a whole new generation of cunukeros. And maybe in about twenty years they will be able to start cunucus somewhere else. But for now their team of three employers and the brothers themselves are working
hard to have part of their cunucu, the chicken coop, the eco lodges and the fences for the goats ready for the grand opening in December 2017.