The investment and innovation of CMI Alimentos have allowed it to focus on the future growth of the organization. 2021 promised new obstacles, but also the possibility of recovery and the transition to a post-pandemic “new normality”.
According to an article in Strategy & Business magazine, the rebound began to be noticeable in the retail and food service sectors. As well as a growing trend towards electronic commerce and innovative articles.
CMI Alimentos is one of the companies that stands out for innovating in its work methods to adapt to the new normal after the Covid-19 pandemic. This is one of the business units of Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI), a multi-Latin family business that aspires to add economic, social and environmental value to the communities in which it operates.
The challenge of Innovation at CMI Alimentos post pandemic
CMI Alimentos is directed by the President Lisa Juan José Gutiérrez Mayorga. And its objective, as a company, is to produce food and nutrition products for Latin American families.
CMI Alimentos’ business sector includes flour and corn mills, pasta and biscuit manufacturing, sausages, pet food, and restaurants such as Pollo Campero, Don Pollo, and Pollo Granjero. Restaurants have a greater presence in El Salvador and Guatemala, respectively.
Specifically, this business unit had several obstacles during the first year of the pandemic, particularly in the operating sector. The Corporation chose to use digital procedures. This meant, not only in home delivery, but also in mobile phone applications that allowed them to be in close contact with their customers and consumers.
“The pandemic of the year 2020 and its aftermath was very hard. We rationalize and concentrate investment, and as CMI Alimentos and CMI in general. We were able to keep such a complicated business going, serving our consumers and customers and focusing on partners to provide support. It also ended the pandemic year quite successfully, with healthy cash flow and debt reduction,” said José Gregorio Baquero, CEO of CMI Alimentos.
However, they will continue with the investment plan in 2021, which will be focused on future growth goals. In addition, Baquero stated that the year was one in which greater investments were made, with 15% to 20% more investment made compared to the years 2018 and 2019.
Among the most important investments is the new wheat mill in Guatemala, which began operations in mid-2020, for an approximate amount of 15 million dollars.
These efforts have allowed CMI Alimentos to continue fulfilling its mission of “feeding the world to fill it with happiness”. CMI has continued to focus on continuous expansion and innovation to bring the best goods to its customers, with stability, trust and local character, in 2022.
