The Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom has distinguished our company the Annual Golden Award 2020 in recognition of Ebro’s outstanding achievements in the British market. This is an important award given annually to recognize the performance of Spanish companies in that country.

The award was collected at the Spanish Embassy in London by the Chairman, Antonio Hernández Callejas, who expressed his gratitude for the award and said he was very happy and proud of this distinction: “we have had very close personal and professional ties with the United Kingdom for over 30 years, where we have three British companies and six production plants that employ 470 people and generate a turnover of £280 million a year“.

The Chairman pointed out that “Ebro’s journey in the United Kingdom began in the late 1980s with the acquisition of the rice company Joseph Heap & Sons Ltd., the seed of other important investments that have enabled us to remain deeply immersed in the rice business and enjoy a significant presence in the industrial, food service and retail channels.  He ended his speech by emphasizing that “our intention is to continue to strengthen this presence and to promote the development of our brands Tilda in the retail channel and Kohinoor in the ethnic segment“.

The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Eduardo Barrachina, pointed out during his speech that the award wants to recognize the work and determination of a company fully committed to growth, sustainability, innovation and high quality. For Barrachina, the fascinating thing about Ebro Foods is that “it owns many brands around the world that belong to the sentimental universe of millions of people. EBRO food products live in millions of homes around the world“.

The event was also attended by the Spanish Ambassador to the United Kingdom, José Pascual Marco Martínez, in his first official act as Ambassador with the Chamber.

Every year, almost 1 billion tons of food are wasted worldwide. Do you want to know how you can help fight this problem? We explain it to you in this video.

Driven by the extraordinary performance of high value-added products, Group net turnover in the first half of the year reached €1,379.7 million. While the comparison with the first six months of 2020 continues to be distorted by last year’s compulsive buying, in CAGR 2021/2019 the turnover rose by 6.4%, showing the strength and leadership of our brands in this new competitive environment.

Net Profit is up 4.3% to €107 million, EBITDA-A was €177.2 million, down 6%, and the Ebitda-A margin increased by 10 basis points to 12.8%, in spite of the increased costs recorded in the first half of the year.

By business area, both the rice and pasta divisions have had to face high cost inflation in raw materials, logistics and energy, among others. In this complex environment, diversification in origins, the increase in working capital and the focus on convenience products, with double-digit growth, have been our main strengths to face this situation with solvency.

These results confirm the leadership of our brands and the success of our strategic focus on the premium, fresh and convenience businesses.

CVC Capital Partners VIII and the Ebro Group have entered into exclusive discussions for the acquisition by CVC Capital Partners VIII of Panzani® dry pasta, couscous, sauces and semolina business.

More specifically, the transaction would include: 1) the Panzani®, Ferrero®, Regia®, Zakia® and Le Renard® brands, and 2) all the operating assets (including plants and mills) related to these brands. The business perimeter contemplated in the transaction posted a turnover of €470 million in 2020 and employs 750 employees. It will remain headquartered in Lyon, France. The divestment would not have any social impact on the employees of the business.

The transaction remains subject to the French workers’ representatives information and consultation, customary regulatory approvals and the approval of General Shareholders Meeting of Ebro Foods, S.A. It is expected that the envisaged transaction would be completed before 31 December 2021.

The transaction has been valued at €550 million (the value of 100% of the business) and would comprise the sale of 100% of the share capital of Panzani S.A.S. Prior to the envisaged transaction, the fresh pasta and rice businesses, including leading brands Lustucru Selection® and Taureau Ailé®, would be carved-out and therefore remain within the Ebro Group.

This divestment is in line with Ebro’s strategic goals for the period 2019-2021 and would enable Ebro to further concentrate its resources with a view to strengthening and expanding its premium, fresh pasta and convenience businesses, in which it is a global leader.

Ebro India, with the support of the Ebro Foundation, has funded and actively participated in the setting up of an oxygen generating plant at the Kalpana Chawla Hospital (KCGMC) in Karnal (Haryana). This is yet another initiative to combat and alleviate the consequences of Covid-19, in line with our commitment to support the local communities in the areas where we operate.

Karnal, home to our Ebro India manufacturing plant, is one of the oldest districts in the state and the KCGMC is one of the largest hospitals in the area, with a capacity of 280 oxygen-assisted beds. The new oxygen plant will be able to serve 107 beds, significantly increasing medical infrastructure resources, and will provide vital support for years to come.

Blanca Hernandez, President of the Ebro Foundation stressed that “we felt the need to stay close to our team at Ebro India and help in this terrible health crisis, especially in an area where many of the people who work with us live. We also want to get the message out to the entire international community that we are very much looking out for you.”

And another piece of good news: Ebro India receives a new GPTW distinction.

In the last newsletter we informed you that our colleagues at Ebro India had been selected for yet another year as a Great Place To Work in the medium-sized company category. Well; to this we have to add a new recognition for them: they have also been distinguished as one of the three best companies in the food and beverage sector. Congratulations to the whole team!

Antonio Hernández Callejas, Chairman of Ebro Foods, gave a summary of the main milestones of the year at the General Shareholders’ Meeting, which this year was once again held telematically.

He dedicated a special tribute to the deceased employees and their families and to those who have suffered the devastating consequences of the pandemic. He stressed that in such a special and complicated year, the company has been able to respond with solvency and responsibility, supplying the markets at all times and reinforcing its commitment to society.

“In line with this commitment, an extraordinary budget of two million euros was approved for the Ebro Foundation, so that the institution could promote various actions to help mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic”.

The Chairman explained that this extraordinary endowment has been used to help the most needy groups in the health crisis: hospitals, old people’s homes, solidarity kitchens, hotel and restaurant owners, children at risk of educational exclusion, etc. And although most of these actions were carried out by the Foundation, alliances have also been established with various companies and institutions, which has served to multiply the results of social action and thus reach millions of people.

In his analysis of the year by divisions, the Chairman highlighted the increase in sales of Rice (+16.1%) and Pasta (+14.5%), which in both cases resulted in a significant increase in profit, despite increases in freight and raw material costs.

Antonio Hernández Callejas pointed out that the Ebro Foods share appreciated by 10.8% during the year, while the IBEX closed the same period with a fall of 16.6%; he also pointed out that the dividend yield per share was 13.25%.

The Chairman closed his speech by warning that 2021 will be a difficult year due to the various uncertainties, but that “we are prepared to face them and will continue to work on the necessary measures to improve our competitiveness, with an open mind to innovation, exploring new strategies that will lead Ebro to a profitable evolution in the sectors and businesses that may have more possibilities for the future“.

We show you in three minutes the highlights of the 2020 financial year.

In a very complex year, the Group has made a major effort to combat the effects of the pandemic and continue to advance its commitment to sustainability.

We are delighted to share some great news: Ebro India has again been selected as one of the best places to work in India. We are ranked 24th among all companies between 100 and 500 employees in India. Great Place to Work Institute announced it on June 25, highlighting our company’s values in Credibility, Respect, Fairness, Pride and Camaraderie.

¡Many congratulations to all on this new distinction!

Last March, the Ebro Foods Foundation launched the Sustainability and Environmental Awards initiative among the Group companies, a competition to promote internal talent in the field of sustainability by identifying projects that contribute to achieving the objectives of our General Sustainability Plan HEADING TOWARDS 2030.  The response has been a success and very interesting and innovative initiatives have been received from the participating subsidiaries, a total of seven.

The winning projects of this first edition, which will be repeated every year, were the companies S&B Herba Foods (SBHF) and Risella. SBHF submitted a total of four projects to the competition, of which the winners were an initiative to reduce water consumption by using rainwater as “gray water” in the toilets of its facilities; and a program to reduce approximately 300 tons of waste destined for landfill each year.

Risella, meanwhile, presented #TheForestBulding, a 3D urban forest of trees illustrated on a building that will use a special type of paint that absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere. A headline will be placed on the paint to explain how much CO2 the brand is eliminating thanks to the illustration and the elimination of plastics in its packaging. 

Garofalo, which designed a project focused on the circularity and proximity of the cardboard used as packaging, has received a special mention that will allow it to launch a pilot of the program during this year 2021.

The other participating companies were Herba Ingredients, Transimpex, Lassie and Riviana. All of them have presented extraordinary proposals aimed at an efficient use of natural resources in their production processes, crop sustainability, food waste or consumer awareness.

Blanca Hernández, President of the Ebro Foods Foundation, expressed her satisfaction with the interest shown in the call: “I would like to thank all the subsidiaries for the enthusiasm with which you have responded; it has been very exciting to see your involvement in sustainability and, especially, how you have thrown yourselves into this particular initiative. I am very happy and proud of the extraordinary internal talent that exists within the Group. These awards will continue each year and will be a source of ideas to help us constantly improve the sustainability of our business model. We look forward to your continued participation.