Belca | BBR - Brochure

SOLUTION for sustainable foodservice

Produced

by

Jassen Pintado

Creative Direction

Omar Rodríguez

Interviewee

Andrée Marie Asturias, Chief International Business Officer for Belca

The development of the food market in Central America is offering new opportunities to companies. Belca’s endeavors in the foodservice specialty have resulted in growth all over the territory, overtaking the leadership. Andrée Marie Asturias, Director for Central America, shared with us details about this achievement as well as from the company’s sustainability agenda, looking forward to increasing its presence into more countries

COULD

YOU PLEASE

BRIEFLY SHARE SOME DETAILS ABOUT GRUPO CIISA, SUCH AS ITS CREATION AND SIGNIFICANT FEATS, INCLUDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BELCA BRAND?

Grupo CIISA began operating in 1969 in the beef export industry as the Empacadora Taylor and Associates packaging company, with North American investors. In 1977 it became part Costa Rican with the El Arreo brand. Once established and known as one of the leading meat suppliers, the company opened the CAMSA (Central American Meats) pork meat production business unit in 1990.

In 1993, the group entered the foodservice industry in Costa Rica as Belca, becoming a ground-breaker in such a specialty in the Central American Market. In 2005, the group entered Nicaragua through Novaterra, S.A., exporting vacuum-sealed meat to different countries.

In 2006, Belca began expanding to other countries in Central America by beginning operations in Honduras. Afterwards, in 2007, Belca broke into Guatemala, and finally, in 2018, in El Salvador.

WHICH ARE THE MAIN COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES IN WHICH BELCA OPERATES? WHICH ARE YOUR MAIN PRODUCT LINES? WHICH INDUSTRIES DOES BELCA SERVE?

Grupo CIISA operates in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. We serve, mainly, through two specialty areas within the food

industry: meat production (with El Arreo, in Costa Rica, both with beef and pork products; and in Nicaragua with beef) and foodservice (in Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras), where we became a complete solution for dry, refrigerated and frozen food supplies, as well as a supplier of cleaning products and other items to food operators in every industry: hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, national and international franchises.

WHAT WAS BELCA LIKE BEFORE ANDRÉE MARIE ASTURIAS TOOK OVER AS CHIEF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS OFFICER? WHERE IS BELCA HEADING NOW?

I arrived at Belca Guatemala in 2010, its third year of operations in the country, finding myself in a small family business with huge growth potential in the Guatemalan market. We were 32 contributors relying on six delivery

www.nestleprofessional-latam.com/gt

CHOCOLATE

CULINAR

KITKAT® Untable 6x1.01kg

CRUNCH® Buncha Chocolate 4x2.5 kg

MAGGI® Mashed potatoes 1x2.3kg

CARNATION® Evaporated milk 12x1kg

NESTLÉ® Media Crema 12x1L

CHEF-MATE®

Chili con carne with beans

6x3.03kg

MALHER® Chicken flavor bouillon 6x2.3kg

NESTLÉ® Manjar Dulce de Leche 3x6kg

MINOR’S® Bourbon style sauce 4x2.23kg

COFFEE-MATE® Original 200x4g

NESCAFÉ®

Whole Bean Espresso 6x1kg

NESCAFÉ® Espresso 6x500g

MAGGI®

Chicken flavor bouillon 12x920g

NESCAFÉ® Clásico 4x1kg

trucks to cover our market. It’s been hard work from the entire team, as currently we are foodservice leaders in the country. Sales in Guatemala have increased fifteenfold, we have 180 contributors and 35 delivery units covering 100 percent of Guatemalan territory.

In 2016 we decided to take part in the Salvadoran market, finally beginning operations in 2018 in this country. We are replicating the apprenticeship we obtained from operations in previous countries to deliver growth also in Belca El Salvador, driving it to become a success story in foodservice.

WHICH FACTORS SET BELCA

APART FROM OTHER FOODSERVICE COMPANIES WITHIN THE TERRITORY, CONTRIBUTING TO BEING CHOSEN BY YOUR CLIENTELE?

Our people and our focus in service makes us different, as we deliver

complete solutions to our clients. We are a one-stop shop, which helps them become more efficient, and instead of wasting time dealing with whatever amount of suppliers, they can fulfill a big deal of their needs here with us. In a world of day-to-day rush, with so much traffic and impersonal communication, we keep providing personal attention, reaching out to our clients and engaging with them in longterm productive relationships.

HOW HAS BELCA INVESTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT

OF SOLUTIONS ABLE TO DELIVER INNOVATIVE SERVICE?

We have invested in innovative technology. Currently in Costa Rica -still our largest market-, for example, we rely on AI to deal with clients which, due to their nature or location, prefer to call the company to place an order. We also offer bots catering to our clients’ needs (along with Any2Cloud,

It’s been hard work from the entire team, as currently we are foodservice leaders

- Andrée Marie Asturias, Chief International Business Officer for Belca

a company into the tech innovation industry) providing different services: POP (point of purchase) advertising and customer service desks, among others.

IN WHICH AREAS DO THE COMPANY’S STRATEGIC PARTNERS STAND OUT?

Belca’s strategic partners stand

out by being suppliers that want to grow hand in hand with us, contributing to market development. These are suppliers investing in us to boost their market footprint. We are their distribution channel; and more than suppliers, they become -as stated in the question- strategic partners and even friends with whom we have provided growth to brands in

a significant way across our markets.

IN WHICH WAYS IS BELCA CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE PROCESSES AS A COMPANY AS WELL AS IN ITS SURROUNDINGS?

We are a company committed to sustainability. We earned Carbon Inventory and Blue Flag certification in Costa Rica, and we are certified under ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management in Nicaragua.

We have internal processes engaging our entire supply chain, such as the Sustainable Procurement Program.

Our operations in Guatemala and Costa Rica are, on their behalf, certified under SQF (Food Safety Code for Storage and Distribution), being the only foodservice distribution company in the territory with this credential.

WHAT GOALS IS BELCA ACHIEVING TOWARD THE END OF 2023?

WHICH OF THE COMPANY’S MIDAND LONG-TERM PLANS CAN YOU SHARE WITH US?

The goals for 2023 have been to

We want to become the main food supplier in Central America

and keep conquering countries and always promoting environmental, economical and social sustainability

- Andrée Marie

Asturias, Chief International Business Officer for Belca

keep growing within the markets where we are to industrialize, market, and distribute food in the territory, with the purpose of driving sustainable growth and the growth of our business partners.

We want to become the main food supplier in Central America and keep conquering countries and always promoting environmental, economical and social sustainability. We have

interesting expansion plans to replicate the success model we have featured since its creation.

WHAT CAN YOU SHARE WITH US ABOUT YOUR CAREER REGARDING YOUR EDUCATION, PAST EXPERIENCE AND ANY AWARDS YOU HAVE RECEIVED?

I’m an industrial engineer graduated from the Rafael Landívar University (Guatemala) and I earned a Master’s

in Executive Finance from the Adolfo Ibáñez University (Chile) and ESADE (Superior School of Business Management and Direction, in Barcelona, Spain).

Previous to my more than 13-year experience in Grupo CIISA, I worked for almost 12 years at Procter & Gamble, where I began my career after graduating from college. I entered the Sales department at P&G serving small retailers and pharmaceutical wholesalers, afterwards I transferred to the Customer & Marketing department to develop clients through marketing programs and, finally, during the last seven years of my tenure over there I was in charge of the Market Research department for Central America.

I left P&G in 2006 to focus on my family for a few years. I have three children, two of them are already working professionals and one of them is currently in college. In 2010

I was called to join the Belca project in Grupo CIISA as General Manager for Guatemala. Afterwards, in 2018, I became in charge of El Salvador, and in May 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, I took care of Honduras, bringing a wider scope into my position as Chief International Business Officer for the company.

FOUNDED: 1993

Food Service

www.belca.com.gt andree.asturias@belca.com.gt