I was born in 1963 in northern Costa Rica to Don Gerardo and Doña Soledad Araya. I am the third of 9 children. God blessed my parents with 6 daughters and 3 sons.

I could write a whole book about our adventures and afternoons playing under the surveillance of the perfect cone of the Arenal Volcano, which we always had in sight.

I appreciate the iron discipline of my parents, and to this day I treasure my father’s teachings and advice. I was always curious and eager to see and learn new things, and it was only God that kept me from the bad company and vices that affected young people so much in those days. In those days my father was a farmer who made the fertile fields of Chachagua, land of blessing, flourish with his work.

He farmed in the La Fortuna Valley, at the foot of the always roaring Arenal Volcano, not as far away as we would have liked. My 2 brothers and I helped my father and little by little we grew.

Finally in 1983, when I was 20 years old, my father bought 3 plots of agricultural land, about 100 acres that we farmed together as a family. What wonderful times those were, and how different the world is now! When I was 20 years old, my mind was filled with dreams and business ideas so my father allowed me to plant on one of those plots of land. We planted papaya, bananas, cassava… and took them to sell in the center of the country, at the Farmers’ Fairs. I occasionally sold my production in the SENADA wholesale market, near the country’s capital. I didn’t have a vehicle to take my goods to the market, so I had to pay freight to a neighbor who had a truck. However, after a few years and with the profits from my sales, I was able to buy a truck, which allowed me to expand my work capacity. When I turned 25, I was able to buy my own farm and soon I was able to expand my plantings and I was able to continue my project as a farmer. This was a good time in life for me. I met the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life, and 2 years later I married her. This changed my whole life. While time passed between work and home the Lord blessed us with 3 daughters and 1 son.

There was no shortage of difficulties, but they were always resolved with the support of my wife and the children. Those difficult moments served to make us stronger.

In 1996 I had my entire farm planted with ginger and about to be harvested, when a vegetable importer from the United States appeared in the village and opened a packaging plant nearby. He bought product from the local farmers in the area, packed and exported them.

He operated that way for some time, and it seemed that everything was going well. He came to me and offered to buy my ginger. He asked for credit because all of his money was invested in goods. We made the agreement that I would be paid as soon as he collected. I sold him my ginger on credit and a few days later the subject disappeared, leaving a huge amount of unpaid bills, one of them being mine. I recovered soon and decided that I would package my products myself and sell them to the exporters already packaged. I proposed my business plan to some exporters, and I was well received by Doña Marita González and her son Jorge, who agreed to buy my packaged products from me. With the help of my wife Lupita, I turned the garage of my house into a packing house of fresh roots and tubers. My children were growing up and so was the packing house which soon covered the whole house. A few years later I registered AIZ ROMAJOCA SA as an exporter which is a family business that today sends its products to the European Union, the United States and Canada. It also sells a large part of its production to other Costa Rican exporters, who in turn market abroad.

Today, with the support of my family and counting on my children Josué and Simey as part of the company’s management team, we decided to create a new production line of frozen roots and tubers. We founded AYZ TIERRA BUENA SA, which has a modern packaging plant.

Rodolfo Araya.

CEO Tierra Buena / Romajoca