Chevening climate hero: Agustin Reboursin and the power of plants

Agustin’s story:

“Hi! My name is Agustin Reboursin and I am from Argentina.

The year before my Chevening journey began, I co-founded Santa Burguesa with three other partners. Santa Burguesa is a plant-based start-up with a vision to foster sustainable eating habits in my region.

Argentina has one of the world’s highest meat-consumption levels per person. Whilst this is embedded in our culture, it brings negative effects to people’s health and to the environment.

The meat industry has a direct impact on climate change. Meat production requires an excessive demand for natural resources and creates a high level of pollution. That is why we need to do something to moderate it and replace it with other alternatives.

For these reasons, we created Santa Burguesa. We replace meat with plant-based alternatives, designing tasty and easy-to-cook products.

Eating vegetables and legumes has never been fancy and might be seen as boring. We want to turn this around by bringing innovative alternatives to our consumers. By doing this, we are contributing to creating more sustainable eating habits in our society.

I combined my studies in the UK with Chevening with my experience in the fast-moving consumer goods industry. This experience provided me with the tools to transform a little project —which started in our kitchen— into a scaled business.

A very curious fact about our journey is that our first big customer was one of the most important butchery chains in the country, where many Argentinians buy their meat for an asado!

We need to turn eating plants into a habit for people all over the world. It should be tasty, easy and fun!

By doing this, we will contribute to a more sustainable world.”

Agustin studied for an MSc in Managing Innovation in Creative Organisations at Loughbourough University, London, with a Chevening Scholarship, in 2019.