Herba Bangkok is one of the most strategic businesses of the Ebro Foods Group. Managed by Ignacio Yuste, Herba Bangkok is the main supplier of jasmine rice for the Ebro Group brands. In this context, our subsidiary plays an important role on the sustainability of our supply chain. Today, we are going to talk with Diederik (Dieham) Pretorious, Herba Bangkok Sustainability and Compliance Director, and we will find out how the company works on sustainability.
We employ 6,374 people in the different companies of the Ebro Group. Would you like to know in which of them there are more professionals and what percentage of the total you represent in yours? Find it out!
Yash Singh Pal, Human Resources Director of Ebro India, has been awarded for his work on Human Resources at the 30th edition of the “Top Most HR Leaders” awards of the World HRD Congress (https://www.worldhrdcongress.com/).
The Congress is an association of Human Resources professionals from around the world, which annually awards Human Resources leaders in various categories as one of its actions to highlight the value of people management.
The World HRD Congress & Awards 2022 was held in Mumbai bringing together thousands of professionals from 133 countries. In addition, this year being a special edition, the Congress will publish a book of the stories of these leaders who are recognised for “Making the Difference”.
Congratulations Yash on this well-deserved recognition for your magnificent work at the head of Human Resources at Ebro India!
Generally, all of us have developed certain eating habits, that is, conscious behaviors that are repeated when consuming certain foods, according to the social or cultural influences of our environment.
According to the Communicable Disease Center (CDC), an organization belonging to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to improve eating habits on a permanent basis, it is recommended to follow an approach based on reflection, substitution and reinforcement.
Tips for adopting good healthy habits
Write down moments, food consumed, quantities and even feelings or emotional state. This will allow you to detect bad habits such as skipping meals or eating without hunger.
Once unhealthy habits have been detected, identify the factors that trigger them in order to eliminate or replace them. For example, these can be environmental, emotional or even not having a meal plan.
Being aware of your habits will make it much easier to take action to change them. It will also help to have a good meal plan to make sure your meals are healthy and balanced.
Habits are acquired over time. So be patient and don’t be in a hurry to take them on from one day to the next. Every small change is beneficial to your health.
The carbon footprint is the total volume of greenhouse gases (GHG) produced by human economic and daily activities. Therefore, it is important to take measures to reduce it as much as possible, becoming aware of our daily routines and actions, thus promoting a more sustainable life. How to apply sustainability in your daily life?
Avoid food waste and buy what you really need by planning your shopping in advance. Opt for reusable bags and avoid products with excessive plastic packaging.
For short journeys, choose to walk or cycle; for longer journeys, use public transport. Hybrid or electric vehicles, as well as carpooling and carsharing (rental methods) are also good alternatives to reduce CO2 emissions from cars.
Take care of the clothes you already own to make them last longer. One of the best ways is not to wash them more than necessary. You can also buy clothes that are responsibly made from recycled material and have an eco-label.
This consumption philosophy will help you reduce your environmental impact with small daily actions.
Reduce, and even reject, all unnecessary items such as single-use plastics, samples or gifts, advertising, as well as receipts and purchase tickets.
Recycle by disposing of materials in the appropriate container, with the goal of creating new products.
Reuse, allowing products to be reused for the same or a different purpose. Make smart purchases by acquiring reusable, durable, repairable and rechargeable products (batteries, shopping bags, thermoses, etc.).
A model that responds well in tough times
We have closed a year plagued with enormous tough challenges: 1) the successive waves of Covid-19; 2) extreme weather events; 3) significant reduction of harvests; and 4) major hikes in costs (€83 million more than in 2020 and €143 million more than in 2019). Yet we have the satisfaction of having confirmed once again the consistency of our business model, obtaining very positive results similar to those achieved in 2020, which was a record year in our company.
This was made possible by: 1) our diligence in decision-making; 2) the strength of our brands, which continue to consolidate their leadership and increase their market shares; 3) consumer recognition and confidence in the quality and differentiation of our products; 4) diversification and taking adequate positions in raw materials; and finally 5) the good health of the Group’s businesses, which have managed to mitigate the impact of spiralling inflation.
It has been a year of intense work, during which, while riding out the present difficult situation, the Group has forged ahead in the development of its strategy, closing a cycle that culminated with our withdrawal from the dry pasta businesses, and beginning a new one based on a firm commitment to the premium, fresh and convenience segments, in consideration of their greater profitability and better growth prospects.
As 2022 unfolds, it is expected to be even tougher owing to the evolution of inflation, the need to negotiate in order to pass on the increased costs into prices, and droughts, but we trust that our strengths, the generation of synergies and our continuous efforts to streamline costs will stand us in good stead to steer through the year.
The Ebro Group has reached a binding agreement to purchase the assets comprising the business of InHarvest. Inc.
InHarvest is a US company with a strong presence in the industrial (B2B), Food Service and Private Label businesses for premium specialities in rice, quinoa and grains in the United States.
The agreed transaction price is USD 48,75 million.
This acquisition is of considerable strategic interest for the Ebro Group because: (i) it would be easy to integrate within the Riviana business; (ii) the supply chain, plant network and packaging and production capacity of the Ebro Group in the United States would be improved; (iii) it would provide access to business platforms on which Riviana does not currently have a significant presence (such as Food Service or the military channel); and (iv) the value-added goods produced by InHarvest would be included within Riviana’s product portfolio.
The transaction is expected to be completed in early April 2022, once certain formalities agreed by the parties are met.
We talked with Sandra Kim, director of the Marketing Department of Riviana Foods located in United States, to learn about her team’s work! Discover how we are in Ebro Group!
In order to alleviate the serious humanitarian crisis in Ukraine following the start of the Russian invasion, the Ebro Foundation has joined the wave of solidarity with the Ukrainian population by sending essential products, cash and donations-in-kind.
In the area of food donations, thanks to the support of our Belgian subsidiary Boost Nutrition, we are collaborating with World Central Kitchen (WCK), the NGO of the chef José Andrés, by sending more than 80,000 kilos of rice to attend to the Ukrainian refugees in the town of Lviv (Ukraine). The trucks loaded with rice leave from our Boost society bound for the Polish-Ukrainian border, and once there, WCK volunteers are in charge of crossing the border and taking the rice to Lviv. So far, three trucks have already been sent and a fourth truck is scheduled to arrive on 6 April.
On the other hand, through the Madrid Futuro Association, we have participated financially with the emergency campaign “Caritas with Ukraine” for the distribution of essential products, transport and safe shelter for Ukrainians who are leaving the country and to help refugees arriving to Spain. Also, through Madrid Futuro, the employees of the Madrid office have collaborated in the campaign to collect warm clothes for children and women, food for babies, medicines, etc. organised by the Madrid City Council.
This wave of solidarity has extended to other Group companies, such as Ebro Foods Netherland (Lassie), which is also supporting some local initiatives, or Tilda, which is currently finalising a specific project.
If any other Group company or individual employee is collaborating with any programme and would like to tell us about it, write to us at comunicacion@ebrofoods.es and we will report on it in the next issue.
Throughout our workday, we interact with different colleagues from different departments, so we come across different personalities and generations. Therefore, every day we discover new experiences and very different stories marked by our year of birth. Today we talk about generational differences. Find your birth year and discover the top moments!
