“Messi-Mania” helps companies in Argentina out of crisis

Argentina has been in a major economic crisis for months which affects large parts of the population. There are exceptions for those who have a special customer – namely the soccer star Messi.

San Miguel is a densely populated suburb of Buenos Aires that has seen better days. Right in the middle, in a workshop behind his family’s small home, José Guillermo Fernández Parillas makes grill grates. Argentinians love meat – that’s why it’s an emergency-proof product.

But with triple-digit inflation rates, business finally came to a standstill – until he made a special model: “This is our captain’s grill,” says José – made of stainless steel. “Here, in the area where the heat is being heated, we have stamped ten. It lights up when the fire is lit. Plus the three World Cup stars on the top. And here is the picture of Leo making his famous move towards. the sky could.”

The point is: One of those captain’s grills – the original model, to be precise – now stands on a terrace in Miami, the terrace that only Messi himself is now in the process of expanding.

Instagram message from Messi

But right from the beginning: “At the end of 2023, I was only working to keep my five employees. But at some point it didn’t work anymore,” says José. He applied for a loan from the bank. “So I could at least pay the boys for Christmas. I was devastated. But one evening a message from someone with a blue tick suddenly appeared: Messi was standing there. followers. My hand started shaking.”

What you need to know is that there is a great demand for fine, strong Argentinian grills in the exile community, and there are plenty of groups on the subject on social networks. José Guillermo also posted his models. And as luck would have it, a friend of Messi’s, his wife’s cousin, bought the same grill. And after a shared asado – a shared barbecue – Messi wanted one too.

“You gotta give him the grill”

And so José Guillermo got a job in San Miguel. The only problem was that he no longer had the money to buy the expensive steel. “Everybody told me you had to give him the grill. And me, how? I didn’t even have money left to pay my workers.”

Messi’s wife Antonella then sent the money. There was just one more problem: “The day after he got here, the government devalued the local currency. Suddenly the money was worth half as much.” Because the prices for the items are based on US dollars. “I lost half my budget overnight.”

In the end it all worked out. And José Guillermo asked Antonella that it was not okay to publish a post about him on Instagram. A little later he had 6,000 orders in his mailbox – from the USA, Brazil, even Vietnam.

Individual cases in economically weak Argentina

José Guillermo’s grills are not the only products that have received help from the captain: sales at a churros bakery and a flip-flop manufacturer have also gone through the roof since Messi took an interest in them.

Luciano Gianzi is the maker of the blue and white Messi flip flops. Working as an entrepreneur in Argentina is very dangerous, says the entrepreneur. You have to be bold and have good nerves against the economic chaos. “We were touched by Messi’s magic wand, but dozens of other colleagues are fighting to survive every day,” says Gianzi.

“That’s why we love it”

Grill producer José Guillermo was also able to increase the number of his employees fivefold. He is currently working on opening a branch in the US – from San Miguel to Miami, so to speak.

“I don’t know if Messi is aware of what he creates,” he says. “He already has a grill. But he wanted our products from Argentina and he wrote to us as if it were the most normal thing in the world. We love him for that. Even if it’s really out of this world.”