Crystal Díaz Rojas

Crystal Díaz Rojas is a Puerto Rican entrepreneur with over 22 years of experience in food businesses, sustainable tourism and marketing. Education Crystal Díaz Rojas graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras with a bachelor's degree in business with a specialty in Marketing, and a minor in Advertising. She went on to graduate with a master's degree in Management and Cultural Administration. She completed a second master's degree in Food Studies as NYU Steinhardt focused in Food Policy and Advocacy.

Career Díaz Rojas opened El Pretexto in June 2018, a farm lodge located in Puerto Rico's Cayey Mountains. It is the island's first culinary farm lodge, promoting ecological sustainability, combining rustic, artistic, and modern elements. The property incorporates native plants, an agroecological garden, and a fruit forest.

Díaz Rojas is co-founder of the grocery-delivery marketplace PRoduce, founded in February 2018 after Hurricane Maria devastated the country and depleted its food supplies. The hurricane motivated Díaz Rojas, highlighting the urgency to create a platform that connects local food producers with consumers and preserves local food chains. It aims to reduce Puerto Rico’s reliance on imported commodities. It seeks to link consumers and professional chefs with access to locally sourced vegetables, fruits, meats, and other goods that are typically not sold in grocery stores on the island. Puerto Rico heavily relies on food imports, with over 90% of its food being imported, With the increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes linked to climate change, Díaz Rojas emphasizes the need to adapt and prepare for such challenges. Today, PRoduce has over 80,000 users and collaborates with more than 400 local producers. The app has experienced a 1500% increase in users during the pandemic.