Marketing is perhaps one of the most attractive professional activities within a company, whilst one of the most difficult, as it involves meeting numerous expectations, both internal and external.
Today we talk with Iñigo Aberasturi, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Ebro Foods, so he can tell us how it is possible to meet both expectations and what are the main challenges of marketing at present.
As part of the assembled sustainable actions which are being developed by all of the Group’s affiliates, the latest developments pivot around the different initiatives promoted by Riviana Foods and Garofalo.
Garofalo, as part of its commitment to the substitution of single-use plastics, has developed a new packaging line composed of 30% recycled plastic, obtained from chemical recycling. The latter, different to mechanical recycling process, opens unprecedented recycling possibilities for waste fractions which, at present, are difficult to recycle, such as plastic from household collection. In this first phase, the new packaging has been implemented in five references: Spaghetti, Penne, Fusilli, Farfalle and Elicoidale. The brand’s objective is to progressively increase both, the number of references, as the percentage of recycled plastic used.
In this same context of circular economy, the Memphis plant of Riviana Foods has received an award from Pratt Industries, the largest global company in the production of 100% recycled cardboard packaging, due to the significant energy savings achieved owed to its packaging:
As well as the protection of 10,455 trees.
Both subsidiaries have also developed initiatives in the field of sustainable production and biodiversity protection.
In this context, Garofalo has joined LifeGate’s Zero Impact project to offset the CO2 emissions generated by the manufacture and marketing of the primary packaging of its products supplied to the Italian market. The compensations recollected will be destined for the project being developed in the Rimba Raya Reserve, Indonesia, which aims towards the conservation of the tropical peat forest, an area of high biodiversity importance which shelters 94 endangered species within the IUCN Red List. This project also includes social programs to increase the development of jobs and micro-enterprises, as literacy training for children and adults in the region.
Riviana, through its brand, Success® Rice, will promote the implementation of the FSA sustainable agriculture standard, one of the SAI Platform tools, among a group of rice farmers in Arkansas. In this context, Riviana will purchase from these farmers an amount equal to the consumption volume of Success® brand white and brown rice, using a mass balance approach.
We are in luck! The Brand Footprint 2023 ranking (issued by Kantar Worlpanel) has awarded our brand, Brillante®, for having been the food brand with the highest growth in CRP’s (Consumer Reach Points) in Spain during the past twelve months.
Kantar analyzes all purchase occasions over the course of a year to create a ranking of the most popular brands in Spanish households regarding food, beverages, drugstore, and perfumery categories, identifying the Top 50 most chosen brands in Spain.
In this context, Brillante® has gained a position within the Top 50 brands with the highest growth in CRPs, in the area of food, with a growth of 9%. This milestone takes a great relevance due to the current inflationary environment, which favors the MDD, and which portrays the strength of our brand, as its ability to meet to consumer’s needs.
Congratulations to our Marketing colleagues!
It is common for complicated situations to arise within the workplace, at times ones which can highly influence our emotional condition. Additionally, we have our personal issues, leading us to lose our calm and get carried away by our feelings, which can affect our work environment and productivity.
Summer is an ideal situation to practice outdoor sports, this being one of the most important habits to take care of our health. However, during the summer season, there are some factors which can be harmful when practicing sports, such as high temperatures or high sun exposure.
Therefore, we give you some recommendations that will help you take care of yourself!
Ebro Group has once again demonstrated the strengths of our business model, bringing a highly satisfactory end to a complicated 2022.
It was an exceedingly complicated year, in which the Group demonstrated its excellent management capacity, steering expertly through the numerous complexities of a climate of high inflation aggravated by the collateral effects of the war in Ukraine.
Within this inflation climate, costs increased. However, the issue was circumvented as a result of our diligence in decision-making, the implementation of cost-saving measures, the efficiency of our production plants, the expertise of our Commercial, Marketing and Supply Chain teams, the differentiation and value attributes of our brands, our strategic positioning in the principal sourcing regions and, in short, all the pillars defining the consistency of our business model in adverse circumstances.
¡See our results in this infographic!
In our aim to get to know the Ebro family a little better, in this issue we land in Dubai.
Specifically in Tilda International DMCC to talk to Andrés Ponce, Managing Director of the Company. Despite his youth, Andrés already embraces a long professional career within the Ebro Group. He has worked in our subsidiaries S&B Herba Foods, in Ebro Food´s International Development Department, and in Ebro India, up until his new position in Tilda International DMCC.
Professional and personal relationships between the teams of the different companies of the Group is a practice that is cultivated much more frequently than we think.
Although we are in different countries, there are many areas in which we work together and, therefore, we can share learning and professional experiences.
This is the context of the visit that our colleagues from Herba Bangkok recently made to Ebro India, whose main objective was to get to know the high-quality chemical laboratory (EINFRAC) installed in the subsidiary. In the words of Diehan Pretorius, Compliance & Sustainability Director of Herba Bangkok, it also allowed them to “discuss processes and quality controls, production, packaging, value-added activities, sustainability, share good manufacturing practices and align existing and future developments.“
For Peter Walker, Managing Director of Ebro India: “It was wonderful to have Diehan and Jack from Herba Bangkok visit us and to get to know them both personally and professionally. Both organizations share a passion for continues improvement. This visit gave us the opportunity to learn and challenge each other to bring out the best in both Companies. We will continue to stay in touch to carry on our learning and continue to challenge the status quo.“
Since January 1st of 2023, our three BENELUX subsidiaries have changed their names and corresponding logos. In this context, the new names are:
1. Ebro Foods Netherlands B.V., for the former Lassie.
2. Ebro Ingredients, B.V., for Herba Ingredients.
3. Ebro Foods Belgium, N.V., which replaces the former Boost Nutrition.
Aware of the importance for the success of its business of having a fluid and trusting relationship with its agricultural suppliers, Mundiriz launched an innovative initiative.
They incorporated a few years ago, as a best practice in the management of its supply chain, the celebration of an annual meeting with its rice suppliers in the Gharb region.
In addition to strengthening the relationship with its suppliers, the Company’s objective with these meetings is to encourage coexistence and rapprochement with and among them, to create a space for sharing best practices, generating knowledge, learning about their concerns and, in short, to achieve sustainable and efficient management of its supply chain.
After a two-year interruption due to the pandemic, the last of these meetings was held just a month ago. One of the attractions of this event for suppliers is Mundiriz’s traditional drawing before a notary public of a batch of 10 trips for a pilgrimage to Mecca. In many cases, this prize is a unique opportunity for them to make the pilgrimage. It should be noted that the winners always go on this trip accompanied by an employee of Mundiriz itself.
In this edition, with the aim of thanking and rewarding the effort, loyalty, and commitment of the farmers, Mundiriz has increased the number of trips to Mecca from 10 to 15 and has also added six additional prizes consisting of six Samsung TVs. Five of them went to the farmers who obtained the best agricultural yields in each of the five growing areas, and the sixth went to the female farmer who achieved the best yield in all areas, in recognition of the great role played by women in the field and as a measure to promote equality.
After the awards ceremony, all the attendees enjoyed the excellence of Moroccan gastronomy.
