After growing up in Bulgaria, Evgeni Hristov moved to The Netherlands to study marketing and communications. With ten years of experience in the field, he joined Cefetra Premium Oils in 2023. He tells us about the young company’s adventures. ‘You should be able to drive your own success.’
‘I already knew some of the people here. When they were starting up Cefetra Premium Oils, they let me know they were looking for a marketeer who could also take care of some business development. I didn’t have to think twice.’
‘We are the latest addition to the Cefetra Group family. We’re building a good team at our offices in Amsterdam and California. We’re very close with each other, friendly and informal. And even though we’re still a small company, we have seven different nationalities here. That’s also very nice. You learn about different cultures, how to adapt to one another, and how to collaborate.’
“You get an empty canvas, and you decide how to paint the right picture”
Evgeni Hristov – Marketeer and Business Developer
‘‘In terms of business development, I visit trade shows to meet customers and prospects, follow up with them and connect them to our traders. In terms of marketing, I combine a lot of hands-on work with strategic thinking. It’s a very adaptive job. You can really own it at Cefetra Group. You get the freedom to drive your own success.’
‘Marketing and sales are connected to each other, of course. You build awareness, you generate leads, and you start working together. I’m involved in the entire process of telling our story. That broadens my horizon and helps my own development. Compared to my previous jobs, I see more of the complete picture here.’
‘You can also learn from other companies within Cefetra Group. There are project groups, for instance, where you can exchange ideas. I’m connected with all the other marketing specialists in the group, and we meet regularly, online, and in person. We stay on top of recent trends together and share knowledge. I’ve learned more about Customer Relationship Management and web design, to name just a few things.’
‘Launching our own website was a milestone. I only had two months to build it. I would also say our online presence is developing quite well. We only started out in the spring of 2024 and more than a thousand people and organizations are now engaging with us. We did this without campaigns – it’s all organic.’
‘Specialty oils are our, well, specialty. Our commercial team has a lot of experience and its fascinating to work with them. I’m also learning about our products myself. They are important, after all. If you look at bakery items, for example, there’s oil in them. The same goes for shampoo and toothpaste. It’s everywhere.’
‘This job is the one I have enjoyed the most so far. What does it takes to do well here? Having a natural curiosity for the business we are in, and a good sense of humor. That’s important. You should be able to drive your own success. You really get an empty canvas, and you get to decide how to paint the right picture.’
