Mexico City / MX. (gb) With an investment of 72.28 million EUR (or 86 million USD) after one year of construction, Bimbo Colombia opened a new production plant and distribution center in Tenjo, in the Cundinamarca Department in Colombia. These facilities are located at kilometre 11.5 of the Medellin Highway in Bimbo’s Industrial Park, have a capacity of 8 tons per hour, four production lines to produce hamburger buns, snacks and puff-pastry buns, – the latter a new category not previously introduced in Colombia – and will contribute with a major percentage to the 2017 sales.
The opening ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Colombia, Dr. Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, Daniel Servitje, Chairman and CEO of Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V. , Gabino Gómez, Deputy CEO of Grupo Bimbo, Esteban Giraldo, General Director of Grupo Bimbo’s Latam Center, Carlos Ignacio Gallego, Nutresa’s President, and Fernando López, President of Bimbo Colombia.
Fernando López stated that these new facilities expand the production capacity to meet current demand. He also pointed out that 270 new direct jobs are created, adding to the 3’800 current job positions.
Grupo Bimbo is a Mexican company, world leader in the baking industry with more than 70 years of history and presence in 24 countries in America, Asia, Africa and Europe. Bimbo has local brand recognition of 88 percent among Colombians, and has three strategic business units: Family Baked Products, Sweet Baked Products and Solutions, that experienced a double digit growth in 2016. That same year, a major percentage of sales came from innovation products and the Company started making inroads in the frozen bread segment with the acquisition of the Panettiere company.
«From the beginning of our operations in the country in 1996, the Tenjo municipality and the local people have been very important for the company, since we built our first plant there, Tenjo I. Twenty years later, we continue ratifying our confidence in Colombia and in the region, with the opening of Tenjo II», stated López.
The close proximity of the two plants fosters logistics optimization, contributes to generate synergies, and facilitates the distribution process.
In like manner, it has contributed to the improvement of public services infrastructure, access thoroughfares, urban development facilities and security. This adds to the actions of the «Good Neighbour» Program whereby the company supports the community by developing activities such as a School Supplies Donation Day at the Carrasquilla School, the reforestation of the Bogota River basin, a community park, a multiple-use sports court, a children’s playground, and the Health and Wellness Brigade.
«The Tenjo II plant is already making Grupo Bimbo very proud, and our commitment is to continue working every day to fulfil the purpose stated in our philosophy: to build a sustainable, highly productive and fully humane company», affirmed Daniel Servitje, Gupo Bimbo’s Chairman and CEO.
Bimbo Colombia applies the best sustainability and environmental management practices of Grupo Bimbo, focuses on electricity and thermal energy consumption savings, control of atmospheric emissions, a program to classify waste recycling and for the treatment and reuse of process water. For this reason, the new plant has a wastewater treatment plant, a waste reuse program, and optimization of energy use certified by LEED.
The company’s mission is: «To nourish, delight and serve our world» and its 2020 vision is to transform the baking industry and expand its global leadership to better serve a larger number of consumers.
