The Business Roundtable in Cajicá was born from the articulated work between the RAP-E central region, which provided the Sumercé Tienda platform for the survey of needs by buyers of the Horeca channel, and the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá, from the cluster initiative of food and gastronomy who identified 20 potential buyers, making a one-on-one approach to detail the categories, products required in quantities, presentation and frequency.

Based on this information, the search for potential bidders began, mainly producers, given the focus on direct negotiation, without intermediaries, in principle with the natural ally RAP-E and with other industry support entities such as the Agencia de Comercialización de Cundinamarca, FAO, Quebec Business School and Ulata Ciudad Bolivar, among others.

As a result of this two-month work, on June 30 the meeting between 9 buyers represented by 13 attendees and 47 producers with a total of 126 scheduled appointments and a commercial exhibition by some of the producers to publicize their products. Similarly, SENA, the Mayor's Office and CCB managed the participation of 32 rural enterprises that were part of the peasant market outside the Cajicá Cultural and Convention Center.

89% of the appointments were qualified as useful by the buyers, 87% of the suppliers were considered as potential to link and the value of business expectations closed at 740 million pesos.

This exercise was enriched with the participation of other actors such as ADR, the financial system (Davivienda, MiBanco, Finagro, Ban100), companies specializing in packaging, Agrosavia in the development of innovative products for agriculture, the Arbitration and Conciliation Center of the Chamber of Commerce from Bogotá and academia (Military University, Uniminuto and SENA).

It should be noted that at the end of July, buyers and sellers will be monitored by RAP-E central region and the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce to confirm the closing of deals and identify the gaps that limit the negotiation.

Here are some of the testimonials from the entrepreneurs:

Manuel Velandia, owner of Balsámico Campestre “I congratulate you. Really very good contact, some small, but they can be helped to develop. A lot of interesting contacts and projects came out. Thank you so much"

"I want to thank the CCB for this excellent invitation to the fair and business conference held last Friday in the municipality of Cajicá, where we found potential clients, buyers, and expanded our knowledge in very relevant aspects for our venture (@tendenciasbysagrario) Markets organic. We hope to continue participating and that the CCB continues to promote these spaces for the economic strengthening of those of us who harvest the land and are entrepreneurs out of passion in this beautiful country."

Héctor Calderón from the company H Calidad y Frescos “Thank you for the event held on June 30 by the Chamber of Commerce in the Municipality of Cajicá. Thank you so much. We are pending with the buyers to carry out a transaction. We hope you keep us in mind for upcoming events blessings"

Amparo Rodriguez from the company Arepas Zipa “A very nice experience and it opens doors for you because you meet new people. The event is very nice. I found new contacts among them who pack my arepas the way I want”

Fabián Rincón, representing Ulata, who brought producers from the rural areas of Ciudad Bolivar, expressed his most sincere gratitude and appreciation for the event, since it was the first business conference in which 5 of its producers participated, thus becoming the first exposure scenario for these entrepreneurs who are in the process of strengthening and searching for new markets.