The consultancy firm, which emerged in Vilalba and spread to Lugo, offers advice to a variety of firms related to the agri-food sector.

An idea and a grant from the Igape. That was the trigger that allowed Medrar Smart Solutions to be set up, which was born after Hugo Criado and a friend came up with the idea of creating a consultancy firm. Then came the subsidy from the public body, money that obliged them to put their idea into action. It was 2018 when this project began to take its first steps and, a year later, began to gain momentum. But everything came to a standstill with the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020. The obvious slowdown that all activity suffered did not mean paralysis for them, as they took advantage of those months to digitise the company and to realise that this task was not just a requirement they had.

“It was a latent need that existed in companies and that with covid-19 was speeded up”, recalls Hugo Criado, the company’s CEO. Faced with this need in the market, this entrepreneur decided to direct his project towards advice on digitalisation and R&D&I issues for companies and entities related to agriculture and livestock farming. It was not only the obvious importance of agricultural activity in the province of Lugo that justified his decision: “It is my area of knowledge,” says Criado, who studied at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine on the Lugo campus (USC).

The other two partners returned to their respective activities, and Medrar Smart Solutions continued its activity, living up to its name. This growth is evident in the fact that, in addition to the headquarters in Vilalba, another one was added in Lugo. But also in the essence that sustains this entire project. Because Medrar’s activity is based on providing “growth and development” to companies dedicated to the agri-food sector, a job that currently represents nine out of every ten projects that pass through the hands of this Lugo-based company, currently made up of a staff of eight people.

Both the capital of the province and the walled city have several areas in the surrounding area where the packaging of milk and the creation of dairy products are the focus of the activity of large firms and SMEs. “We are a dairy hub with a lot of potential”, Criado stresses, recalling the role of Campus Terra. For this expert, what there is in the countryside is not only raw material but also a population that brings roots to the territory and knowledge as well as economic activity. “We cannot allow this knowledge to be lost”, he says, referring to the experience of many livestock farmers who are close to retirement.

To reinforce this idea, he gives the example of the vineyards and kiwi cultivation, which, in the expert’s opinion, demonstrate the capacity of the Galician rural environment to compete. Not even the smallholding, often associated with a negative concept, does not necessarily seem to him to be a catastrophe, but rather, he explains, it encouraged many landowners to make the best possible use of their farms. Criado does not hide his relationship with the countryside, as his father is a veterinarian and through his roots he knows the rural area of municipalities such as Vilalba and Xermade. He admits that this environment has been and is subject to changes, although they do not necessarily have to be painful; and he does recognise that there is a need for incentives for farmers to rent or sell their farms or their CAP rights because the value of the countryside goes beyond economic figures. What does Galicia need to ensure this future? “Believe in it,” he says.

Original news: Medrar, la empresa que ayuda al campo a crecer – lavozdegalicia.es (12/08/2024).

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