Buenos Aires – Ocho

Buenos Aires! The “Paris of South America” and the next location for Ocho’s New Zealand made chocolate to hit shelves.

Why? You may ask

Well first, internationalising Ocho will increase the number of customers we have access to. New Zealand’s population is around 4.9 million whereas Argentina’s is 45 million and Buenos Aires’s is 15.6 million.

Second, this gives us an opportunity to learn from Argentina. Business all over the world is different and operates differently, experiencing business first hand and learning what works effectively and what doesn’t is a must.

And last, I’ve always wanted to visit Buenos Aires.

Argentina and New Zealand

Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina and is an extremely lively city. The locals are known for their night owl tendencies, eating dinner late and staying out until the sun comes up the next morning. There are some clubs that don’t even open until 2am.

In New Zealand, dinner is typically served around 5-6pm and the nightlife is only really appealing if you’re under 30 because majority of the bars/clubs are aimed at teens/students/young adults. It is considered lucky here if a club stays open until 2am.

Their transport systems are comprehensive, with trains running from early hours of the morning until 10-11 at night and most busses running 24/7.

This is quite a significant difference from New Zealand and especially Dunedin where there are no trains as a form of public transport and the last bus leaves at 8pm on weekdays and 10pm on Saturdays.

This city should be on your bucket list if you’re passionate about music, food, dancing or South America.

Argentinian chocolate scene

Argentina is well known for its meat, empanadas and artisan ice cream.

The chocolate scene in Argentina is different to New Zealand. It is not as much of an everyday thing like it is here in NZ.

Chocolate in Argentina is mainly delivered in two forms – chocolate en rama (an airy chocolate log, similar to Cadbury’s Flake) and chocolate en barra (chocolate that is prepared in large trays and then cut into portion sized squares).

There seem to be many chocolateries in Buenos Aires but the main ones that keep popping up include Mamuschka, Arcor, Vasalissa, El Viejo Oso, Compania de Chocolates and Tikal.

These are all Spanish names because the official language of Argentina is Spanish.

Although most people online have given these chocolate companies good reviews, I’ve decided I need to try them for myself. For the good of the company, of course!

Planning and budgeting for Argentina

Air New Zealand recently decided to fly directly between New Zealand and Buenos Aires. Luckily, after checking Webjet, I discovered the cheapest and fastest way to get from Dunedin to Buenos Aires was via Air New Zealand.

After doing a little research, I found out that the best time to visit Buenos Aires is During their springtime which is September – December. During this time of year, Argentina is the perfect temperature, not too hot but not too cold. I have chosen to go in October to also avoid crowds and peak tourist prices.

Direct Dunedin – Buenos Aires return flights are NZD$1,695 via Air New Zealand. This price is for flights departing on the 2nd of October and returning on the 2nd of November. The duration of these flights are approximately 17 hours in total.

I have chosen to stay for a whole month to allow myself enough time to explore and become an expert on Buenos Aires, their markets, their culture and their businesses.

On average, an entire apartment on Air BNB for the whole month is NZD$752 and most cafes charge around NZD$10-$13 per dish however, you can find cheaper options at the cafes downtown who generally charge around NZD$6-$10.

Pizza is a extremely popular in the city and typically costs around NZD$13. Likewise, steak is also very popular and pricing starts at NZD$15.

For fancier sit down dinners, you can expect to pay approximately NZD$33 and for a week’s worth of groceries, you’re looking at around NZD$52.

A budget of around NZD$320 per day would allow tourists to do anything they want whilst in Buenos Aires and if I want to become an expert on Buenos Aires, which I do, I need to be able to see and do everything. Therefore, I will need approximately NZD$10,655 to become a Buenos Aires expert.