GROWING
WITH INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY THROUGHOUT THE REGION
Produced by Jassen Pintado
Interviewee
Fabio Di Giammarco, Presidente para LATAM en Puratos
Creative Direction Omar Rodríguez
Puratos’ organization and efforts in Latin America have provided its different territories with the necessary resources to grow and become the leader in its specialty
Since its creation over a century ago, Puratos has evolved from its initial father and son operation to become a worldwide giant, a leader in the food industry, specializing in bakery, patisserie, and chocolate. It is currently present in 81 countries with 65 production facilities and 93 innovation centers operated by more than 9,000 workers.
Puratos’ presence in Latin America began more than four decades ago, backed by a solid portfolio, enabling the company to become stronger in the region.
“When I joined Puratos I was fortunate to find a profitable and growing business”, declared Fabio Di Giammarco, President for LATAM at Puratos.
Manifesto 2022
CLEAR OBJECTIVES BEING ACCOMPLISHED
Di Giammarco has over three decades of career in the beverage and food industry. He was initially skilled in Communication, a very different field, but related to most industries in many ways. This fact was key to making clear every objective to be fulfilled by the company. He also completed some postgraduate studies and
update courses, among which an MBA stands out, as well as certifications as Member of the Board of Directors, thus contributing to innovation processes in small companies.
His experience in six different countries has also provided him with important learning knowledge and adaptation to different cultures.
“My greatest recognition is the profitable growth of companies and
When I joined Puratos I was fortunate to find a profitable and growing business
- Fabio Di Giammarco, President for LATAM at Puratos
people who manage to develop and improve thanks to good results”, the executive commented.
LEADERSHIP IN GASTRONOMIC SPECIALTIES
Puratos’ worldwide leadership spreads through three main divisions:
• Regarding Bakery, the company offers ingredients with an added
value, besides technologies that allow its customers to improve the quality, texture, and flavor of their bread offer.
• Its Patisserie portfolio includes vegetable creams, fruit filling, premixtures, and other products.
• Puratos offers distinguishable
Chocolate products within a sustainable operation alongside farmers from the producing countries. Moreover, Puratos supports the bakery, patisserie, and chocolate industries as it has the skills and technology to develop customized products worldwide. Its multichannel
strategy allows it to offer the best solutions to consumers, bakers, pastry chefs, chocolatiers, industries, and semi-industries that produce and commercialize bakery, patisserie, and chocolate products.
We seek to increase its positive impact at a global level through innovative food solutions that foster health and well-being, as well as for
companies, customers, people, and the planet to keep on progressing towards a promising future.
PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE
With innovation as a global hallmark, this feature joins virtually the entire process, from product development to the final taste, thus achieving unique results, which differentiates Puratos from the competition.
Puratos offers enhancers that provide a greater bread quality. Another renowned product is their patisserie premixtures, useful for making all types of puddings, cakes, and tarts, as well as their custard creams for millefeuille-like desserts.
The development of a vegetable creams portfolio (“vegetable origin”) came up from new consumption trends, besides a wider variety of sugar-free or sugar-reduced products, and adding more fruit.
Puratos also offers a great variety of
leaven and sourdough with different flavor profiles, besides a solid portfolio of enzyme modules that produce improved crunchiness, aroma, and freshness for its bread offer.
GROWING STRENGTH IN THE REGION
Under Di Giammarco’s leadership, Puratos has been subject to a reorganization in Latin America with four main geographical areas:
• Brazil
• Colombia
• Southern Cone
• North Latin America
Each one of these areas is run by leaders who make sure that principles such as encouraging dialog, sharing the best practices, and establishing a collaboration network with different countries continue being carried out. Geographic coverage has spread through important efforts such as distributors’ strengthening in Brazil, a significant investment in commercial resources in Central America̶, as well as a series of acquisitions projecting a profitable operation. This way, since December 2021 Puratos owns 100% of the shares of its operations in Colombia, Ecuador,
A great part of our investment is allocated towards developing the best solutions for our customers
-
Fabio Di Giammarco, President for LATAM at Puratos
“2021 was an important year regarding the execution of our strategy. Achieving our independence was an important step for the ambition of growth in the region”, highlighted Di Giammarco.
CLEAR STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE GOALS
Different key factors have allowed Puratos to grow and take control of its operations in Latin America.
by combining the latest digital technologies with artificial intelligence techniques.
Currently, the solutions the company offers are more and more aimed at providing products and ingredients enabling customers to offer healthy, sustainable, and differentiated products.
Regarding production, the whole region has been subject to important investments. The nine factories in Latin America have been modernized and the Dominican Republic, which were previously operated by local partners. Besides totally controlling the operation, the local structure has been increased more than twice over, thus establishing direct contact with customers.
Besides promoting innovation in all the countries, Puratos’ portfolio in the region has evolved according to the market trends found through Taste Tomorrow, the world’s largest ecosystem for understanding consumers, which monitors trends
and equipped with new technologies, among them the installation of automation mechanisms in different processes and the optimization of its supply chain network, making it possible to offer more products to more customers efficiently at a competitive price.
“A great part of our investment is allocated towards developing the best solutions for our customers”, the executive remarked.
SUSTAINABILITY AS A PRIORITY
Within the food industry, not only is Puratos a global leader in culinary specialties and desserts but it is also a leader in its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality, a goal set for 2025.
Among the efforts to achieve this goal the company has a priority on energy self-generation through solar panels in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Uruguay; the obtention of energy from renewable sources in Brazil and
Chile; the operation of a CO -free manufacturing plant also in Brazil; and the installation of sewage treatment in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Peru.
Regarding its value chain, Puratos created the Cacao-Trace program, which establishes different collaboration ties with cocoa farmers, thus allowing them to improve their offer and generate a greater value for
their business. For each kilogram of Belcolade Cacao-Trace that is sold, a fraction of the generated value goes back to the farmer, contributing to their business.
“We have been in this business for over one hundred years. We are determined to play an important role so it can go on for the next one hundred”, pointed out Di Giammarco.
We have been in this business for over one hundred years. We are determined to play an important role so it can go on for the next one hundred
- Fabio Di Giammarco, President for LATAM at Puratos
PROMOTING GROWTH
2022 has been an important year for Puratos, having seen the first steps towards a growth phase in the whole territory.
Particularly, the Southern Cone division is experiencing this growth rapidly, from which we could highlight the success of the operation in Chile and the current growth in Argentina, where Puratos products reach more customers thanks to an important distributors network and an aggressive development of new business.
“2022 means growth for Puratos and, especially, for our customers”, concluded Fabio Di Giammarco, President for LATAM at Puratos.
FOUNDED:
www.puratos.com FDiGiammarco@puratos.com INDUSTRY:
