A test of grit and determination
“I knew the costing made it a long shot,” Mariana says. “But I wanted to show the customers Caldic’s true potential: we adapt to our customers' needs, we act, and we deliver.”
But the supplier was right - our initial offer was undercut by stiff competition. Mariana, however, refused to back down. She proposed running industrial trials with one shipment of the emulsifiers, successfully negotiating the price from a still-skeptical supplier. The container reached the customer just as the next tendering cycle was about to begin.
The product’s performance in testing was stellar. The customer’s technical team responded positively, impressed by the high quality and consistency. But even with glowing trial results, product cost continued to present a challenge. Mariana found another solution. “This was where local expertise and global reach really came into play,” she said. “I dug into our supplier’s network and found a viable alternative in Malaysia.”
With support from Caldic colleagues in Malaysia and the commercial team in Iberica, Mariana developed a new proposal featuring non-European-origin ingredients that was similar in quality, but closer to the price point the customer wanted.
“We were now offering a full value solution: technical quality, local support, logistical flexibility, and a pricing model that worked.”
This time, the customer agreed, conditionally. Since this would be their first collaboration with the Malaysian site, they required a full supplier audit. The clock was ticking, and Mariana and her team responded with urgency. While the audit documentation was compiled and submitted in time, another challenge surfaced: the customer had requested some modifications.
