Risks and opportunities [GRI 103-1]
For Grupo Nutresa, one of the main food-related risks is the noncompliance with the regulations related to the quality, safety and labeling of its food products. To prevent it from materializing, the Organization has legal monitoring mechanisms and synergy work groups in place, and participates in trade associations that allow visualizing the challenges that entail changes or introduction of regulations in the countries where the Company manufactures products or those that are the destination of its exports. This enables Grupo Nutresa to take adequate actions in an anticipated and standardized manner.
In addition, the Organization works on:
- Monitoring trends.
- Updating its risk matrices on a yearly basis.
- Minimizing the risks associated with the noncompliance with the product specifications, the damage to consumers’ health, intentional contamination, tampering and fraud through management systems that comply with international standards and regulations.
- Culture-based strategies focused on the employees.
- Permanent verification processes by means of self-inspections, food safety standards (abbreviated ESAN in Spanish) and internal and external audits.
Impact caused by COVID-19
The Organization analyzed the risks associated with the impact of the pandemic on the operations and, based on such analyses, implementations of control and treatment measures aligned with the definitions of Grupo Nutresa’s and each Business’s Crisis and Continuity Committees. The following are some of the initiatives that stand out:
- Adaptation of production plants.
- Update of the cleaning and disinfection programs and procedures.
- Installation of equipment and implementation of measures for people with the purpose of ensuring biosecure operations.
Integrated management systems
The Company developed a methodology that allows identifying trends and opportunities, their organizational impact and the prioritization for the corresponding execution. This initiative will enable Grupo Nutresa to anticipate and execute strategies aligned with the overarching definitions, the Businesses’ forward planning and the market trends.
Future outlook and goals for 2030
- Continue working on the implementation, certification and maintenance of the safety management systems, such as the standards of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), among other, that enable it to reach new markets, manage emerging risks, fulfill new legal requirements and provide response to the needs of customers, consumers, shoppers and other stakeholders.
- Implementing GFSI and HACCP safety systems in the Cold Cuts, Ice Cream, Pastas and Retail Food Businesses and secure product-related certifications in their operation centers.
- Seeking the consolidation of the legal monitoring associated with products in the markets of the countries where it operates.
- Developing a safety-focused culture model in the operation centers in order to raise the awareness throughout the Organization.
- Building knowledge and engagement networks that consolidate safety management as an organizational capability that supports the development of new markets, products and business models focused on taking care of consumers’ health and on meeting their needs.
- Continue improving its integrated management systems with the continued-improvement tools and the implementation of 4.0 technologies that will be used as a new vehicle for ensuring, changing, improving and optimizing the processes related to the product safety, quality and management systems.
- Acknowledgment granted to the Ice Cream Business by the Icontec
The acknowledgment was awarded based on the Business’s corporate work on the standardization at a nationwide scale for thirty years.
- HACCP certification granted to the Cold Cuts Business’s Aguachica Processing Plant
The Invima authorized the Cold Cuts Business to conduct exports from this operation center located in the Colombian state of Cesar.
- Authorized Economic Operators certification for exporters granted by the National Customs and Tax Direction Office (DIAN) to the Coffee, Chocolates and Biscuits Businesses
For Grupo Nutresa, this certification represents an acknowledgment for its high safety standards in its supply chain and increases the levels of trust among the Company, the government and the customs authorities.
[GRI 103-1]
Risk and crisis management
- Implementations of control and treatment measures.
- Adaptation of production plants.
- Update of the cleaning and disinfection programs and procedures.
- Installation of equipment and adoption of measures for people with the purpose of ensuring biosecure operations.
- Support, orientation and alignment with the definitions of Grupo Nutresa’s and each Business’s Crisis and Continuity Committees.
Management systems
The Organization maintains, improves and permanently updates the integrated management systems of the Businesses, focusing on customer and consumer satisfaction, stakeholders’ needs, risk management, profitable growth, productivity, sustainability and legal compliance. For this reason, Grupo Nutresa has:
- Held 219 currently valid certifications for its operations centers located in Colombia and abroad.
- Achieved that 93,6% of the production be manufactured in facilities that hold certifications and abide by standards on food management, and that 39,0% of the products were manufactured in operation centers holding GFSI certifications (BRC, SQR, IFS, FSSC 22000) [GRI G4- FP5].
- Creation of Constellation Unity, a work team formed by employees from multiple Businesses who work with innovation methodologies such as design thinking and agile culture concepts to articulate the integrated management systems and the improvement-focused tools in order to enhance efficiency, boost competitiveness and support sustainability. The work of this work team resulted in the design of concepts that are ready to be prototyped and validated in 2021.
Adequate control measure management
The Organization did not receive any warnings due to noncompliances with voluntary codes related to food security and labeling matters.
Supplier follow-up and development
With the aim of strengthening and promoting new capabilities among the suppliers that are considered strategic allies in the supply chain, the following workshops and knowledge-creation activities focused on quality, safety, legal requirements and sustainability were organized and carried out:
- “Mega Up Sostenible” (Sustainable Mega Up): 232 invitees to the program for the escalation of SMEs with a high growth potential.
- Open Space: 284 suppliers participated in this activity, which was created with the purpose of sharing leading practices.
- Formulation of a model for the management and development of co-manufacturing agreements with the exploration and identification of Grupo Nutresa’s conditions for co-manufacturers, procedure standardization, organization of internships, leveraging of the capabilities of certain Businesses regarding the administration of this type of suppliers and the incorporation of the highest quality and safety standards. The objective of these actions is to control the risks associated with this process, work jointly, closely and permanently with these strategic allies, and achieve a mutual-benefit development. In 2021, the Organization will work on implementing this model.
Expansion by the Cold Cuts Business of the scope of the suppliers program to its operation centers in Panama, where it implemented all the management procedures and mechanisms that standardize and guarantee the quality of the raw materials and supplies.
Creating capabilities for the exports to the U.S. through the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
The Coffee, Biscuits, Pastas, Chocolates, Cold Cuts Businesses and Tresmontes Lucchetti have developed capabilities to manage and ensure the compliance with the FSMA, which enables the Organization to support export processes to the U.S. and boost its international growth. These capabilities have been confirmed through 9 inspections conducted by the FDA, 12 compliance certificates issued by third parties and the training and qualification of more than 42 employees in matters related to the FSMA, who assist and validate the fulfillment of the requirements.
The Cold Cuts Business completed the implementation process of this standard in its operation center in La Ceja, in the Colombian state of Antioquia. Additionally, the first export to the U.S. was successfully carried out and the validation of the compliance with all U.S. legal requirements was performed, thus confirming the support to the brand’s international expansion.
Food safety culture
Development of the capabilities of 13.164 employees who participate and support the quality assurance systems. They received training related to legal requirements, risk management, good manufacturing and maintenance practices, prerequisite programs, HACCP or critical control points, allergens, global GFSI standards such as the FSSC 22000 and the BRC, threats and vulnerabilities, handling of products within a food chain of refrigeration and traceability.
The Chocolates and Coffee Businesses structured a program that incorporates and measures behavioral habits among the employees with the aim of consolidating and maintaining a safety-focused culture that becomes commonplace, having a positive impact on the diminishing of claims, complaints, preventive reports at the production plants and the improvement in the microbiological monitoring results. The program was devised based on a maturity level diagnosis, formulation of strategies, campaigns, measurements and actions. This initiative will be implemented in other Grupo Nutresa Businesses.
Enhancing the capabilities of the Organization’s own laboratories
The Organization makes progress in the implementation of initiatives that help increasing the levels of reliability of its in-house laboratories in order to underpin the growth of the Businesses. This development has three work lines focused on employees, equipment and the compliance with standards and legal requirements.
In alignment with this, the teams of the laboratories from the Cold Cuts, Biscuits, Pastas, Coffee, Ice Cream and Chocolates Businesses participated in (inter-laboratory) proficiency tests and food analysis methods, producing outstanding results. This type of tests and results establish confidence in the measurements performed in the in-house laboratory and the ability to replicate internationally recognized methods.
These companies have also ensured the compliance with legal standards in their in-house laboratories, with the implementation of improvements related to their infrastructure, equipment and development of profiles and skills requirements for its employees.
Incorporation of 4.0 technologies for the optimization of the quality and safety processes
Grupo Nutresa maintains its technological monitoring processes and the implementation of 4.0 technologies in matters related to quality and safety to facilitate the decision-making process and contribute to the productivity of the management systems and to the quality and safety of its products. The following are some of the initiatives that produced the higher level of impact:
- Ice Cream Business: Start of the implementation of automation processes in the packaging lines, including sensors and robotization for product quality control.
- Coffee Business: Work on the systematization of product information (customer/product/destination) with the aim of minimizing quality issues related to labeling, complementing it with the possibility to visualize the captured information online.
- Cold Cuts Business: Feasibility studies for the implementation of technologies for the automatic capture of variables in the processes, improvements to the bovine traceability process and beef carcass quality determination scanners.
- Pastas Business: Work on matters such as data analytics and the internet of things (IoT) for controlling process variables (weight and humidity), computer vision to ensure compliance with product specifications and 3D-printing pest control elements, among other actions.
Chocolates Business: Implementation of 19 process lines in the automatic variable capture systems, and feasibility studies to incorporate equipment that perform an online analysis of physicochemical variables in the production process.