Epullen: Graduate combines science and innovation for the design of nutritious, healthy and tasty foods

María Teresa Comparini, a graduate of the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the U. de Chile, has dedicated her professional life to meeting the needs of those who have to eat in a special way or who seek a healthier life, through natural ingredients.

The food engineer from the University of Chile Maria Teresa Comparini founded 22 years ago Commercial Epullen together with her husband, Gonzalo Burgos, in order to combine their talents (he is an audit accountant) and promote the research, development and innovation in the healthy food niche. Since then, the graduate of the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences has dedicated herself to satisfy, through natural and healthy ingredients, the needs of people who must eat in a special way or who seek a healthier life.

In conversation with Alumni, Comparini comments that “Since we started, our focus has been to make foods for special nutrition.”. In this regard, he relates that “at first they were sugar-free products; then food for children with food allergies, powdered vegetable drinks; then we focused on the issue of overweight and obesity, applying for Corfo funds to make products that produce satiety with low calories”, he recalls about the journey of the last two decades.

Innovations such as a vegetable liquid similar to milk created from grains or a powdered honey used as a natural sweetener are some of the achievements achieved through this venture. “what we are looking for is make a connection between science and the market, in order to solve problems that families have to feed their childrenalways with Chilean technology, ingredients and inputs, and respecting the carbon footprint”, he points out.

The graduate of the University of Chile mentions as an example of the above the work of the brand of epullen Terrium Biosnackthrough which they create healthy foods, aware that a balanced diet requires an amount of preparation time that not all families can afford: “The idea was make food that contributed, as if they were made at home. That they did not have chemical ingredients that they did not need, that the packaging increased their useful life, that they were rich and that they were nutritionally balanced”.

Quality of life and contribution to regional entrepreneurship

One of her definitions as an entrepreneur was to hire only women who lived close to the company she founded, in Florida, to help them maintain a good quality of life. “The results of these measures have been incredible,” she points out. María Teresa proudly tells that all Epullen workers remained part of the company until the last day they worked in Florida, last year. Giving them labor flexibility to go and return home in case of emergencies or unforeseen events was key to dignifying work and its workers, he affirms.

This year, the food engineer developed Eureka Foods Hub, which seeks to connect food entrepreneurs in La Araucanía. In this area, it seeks to implement a system similar to the one they occupied in Florida. “It is important that those who go to work (there) are local people and that they can get home as soon as possible,” he says.

Asked about the challenges that the Food Hub implies, Comparini pointed out that “we want to decentralize production in Santiago of the food industry and give it value by using the raw material that is there, in the region, such as lupine, which is the base ingredient of our entire vegan and gluten-free line”. Thus, he adds, “we want make a contribution so that the businesses in the area prosper. Give them a physical space with sanitary resolution and constant accompaniment, from the plant, from someone who controls quality and controls the use of machines (…) The idea is that entrepreneurs can carry out their developments without neglecting safety, good practices, or the equipment”.

His time at the U. of Chile

María Teresa fondly remembers her time at the University of Chile between 1985 and 1990. “The dean (at that time) told us that if we were occupying or had occupied a chair at the University, we had acquired knowledge that we have to return to our country, because not everyone could go to university. That marked me.”

“For me it has always been important to make my family compatible with the service for my country, and with entrepreneurship I have managed to do it, serving the country through food engineering and with my family”, he manifests.

Of the network of graduates and graduates Alumni Uchile, hopes to “congregate for the love we have for the alma mater, for the Casa de Bello, and to do truly collaborative things that link all careers.”

María Teresa Comparini is part of the Alumni network of graduates of the University of Chile. Get involved, participate and sign up for alumni.uchile.cl.