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Evelyn González has always believed that language should never be a barrier to leadership and collaboration. Fluent in English, Spanish, Chinese, French, and Portuguese, she uses her linguistic skills to connect with diverse teams and markets. She recalls a moment during a market visit when speaking Mandarin surprised some of her male counterparts.
Her abilities have certainly paid off, empowering her to expand the reach of her organization. As vice president of marketing for Latin America at Puratos, González foresees the company evolving beyond traditional food production into a true food-tech powerhouse—blending innovation with deep-rooted expertise to shape the industry’s future.
“Last year was great for us, but I want 2025 to be extraordinary,” González says. This is the way she speaks. She is animated, charged, and full of ideas that seem to be battling against each other to escape her lips. Maybe it’s all the different languages, or maybe it’s the relentless innovation that drives the marketing director’s efforts.
“In one of our key markets, we face a strong competitor who currently dominates,” she explains. “However, with the right strategy, portfolio, and creativity, I am confident that we can drive significant growth in Latin America. We’ve already taken major steps in this direction, and we will continue building momentum.”
One of the boldest moves was launching an ambitious e-commerce platform during a time when some questioned whether the industry was ready. Just before the pandemic, when González had recently joined Puratos, she envisioned an online experience as seamless and engaging as top global brands like Victoria’s Secret. The goal was clear: create a digital journey that captivates customers and drives engagement.
“I just remember the team at our company headquarters in Belgium looking at me as if I had lost my mind,” the marketing director says, laughing. “I’m not an IT person by trade, but I developed a great sense of collaboration with our team, and I will never forget the day that it went live. I started seeing the orders come in and the information flying around.
“Our first two years, we were in the top five countries for sales in terms of average order-per-customer,” she continues. “But it’s not even about the transactions, it’s about the experience we created.”
“Last year was great for us, but I want 2025 to be extraordinary.”
Evelyn González
González is currently focused on helping Puratos evolve into a food-tech company. That can be a tough mindset shift when the family company is known for the long tenure of many of its staff. That tenure can be a double-edged sword: it reflects a culture that values its people, but it can also be challenging to drive transformation away from familiarity.
Then add the geographic complications. The marketing director oversees thirty-six countries, four primary languages, and the reality that in order for marketing efforts to be successful, they have to be reflective of the customers in communities in which Puratos exists. That’s a wide swath
As González sets her sights on making 2025 extraordinary, her priorities are clear: deepen customer-centric strategies and leverage advanced data segmentation to unlock new market opportunities.She jokes that she tends to interrogate her own family or people she sees at the grocery store about their buying habits. The marketing director wants to find new ways to learn about customers and how they shop.
“Whether you accept it or not, you now have the option to have a complete vision of your customers in a way that you’ve never had before,” the marketing director says. “It’s instantaneous. You have the metrics, and you can see the reaction in real time. But before you can embrace that reality, you have to accept it. It’s all part of this digital journey we’re on.”
González also wants to partner with research and development teams to ensure that Puratos is delivering truly great innovations for its customers.
“If you’re not innovating together, you’re dying,” González says. “I am always looking to build new connections and ways to push Puratos forward.”
She’s also developing her own team. González says she spent much more time connecting with her own people in 2024. She wants to better understand the priorities of her team, how she can connect and support them, and how to keep evolving to create a world-class marketing function.
González wants to raise up talent both in her organization and in the marketing community. As a Latina, González admits that there have been hurdles, but she’s more focused on creating new opportunities for talent than being angry about the challenges women and minorities face. She’d rather give her energy to something she can change on her own than something she cannot.
“I try to hold regular feedback sessions with my team to understand what they’re working toward, what tools I can provide to help them grow, and sometimes just to listen,” González says. “We all have the ability to learn something incredible from the people around us, wherever they come from and whatever their background might be. I think my team is a phenomenal representation of that, and I just want to continue to create opportunities for them to succeed.”
This year, González is tackling new projects, embracing e-commerce challenges, and facing formidable competitors. While frustration is inevitable, especially at the pace of change in the industry, she cites resilience as what helps her bounce back. It lets her remain energized, focused, and unwavering in her mission to drive Puratos forward—proving that innovation, strategy, and leadership are the keys to lasting success.
