Alimentos Campestres - CEGESTI · Alimentos Campestres Millennium Development Goals The Millennium...

Case Study

Alimentos

Campestres

2009 - 2011

Promoting social business and environmental opportunities 2

Presentation

Company Description

Alimentos Campestres S.A. is a

Guatemalan Enterprise dedicated to

producing and commercializing

dried and dehydrated food products.

With 20 years of experience, their

business aims at the final customer,

by way of their own brand of dried

mixed fruit and legumes, mixed fruit

for tea punch, and natural fruit

snacks, among others. They also

provide raw material for the industrial

market. They have two processing

plants: one located at Zone 17 in the

City of Guatemala and the other in

Palo Amontonado (highway towards

the Atlantic coast).

While reading this document, please

keep in mind that it does not

constitute a full account of all the

Millennium Development Goals; it is

rather a main summary of goals 1, 7,

and 8.

This report has been issued by

CEGESTI, based on data and

indicators provided by Alimentos

Campestres S.A and OIKOCREDIT. In

each case, details regarding the

source of information are included,

and the organizations are fully

responsible for the veracity of the

same.

The project

Encouraging social and environmental business opportunities in

Central America and the Dominican Republic SCHOKLAND-SME

CA&DR Fund

This initiative has been made possible thanks to funds granted by the Ministry of

Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Government, and the alliance established

among Oikocredit, ICCO and CEGESTI.

Case Study

Alimentos Campestres

Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals are a set of eight

goals with specific time limits with the purpose of

eradicating extreme poverty in the world by 2015. In

the United Nations Summit of 2000, world leaders from

rich and poor countries committed to reaching these

goals.

The project intends to contribute with Millennium

Development Goals 1, 7 and 8 by facilitating the

financial resources and technical assistance to small

and medium enterprises in the region.

GOAL How the Project intends

to contribute

GO

AL

1 Eradicate

extreme poverty and hunger

Promote the creation and maintenance of decent job posts by strengthening socially responsible enterprises and their economic exchange with stakeholders.

GO

AL

7

Ensure environmental sustainability

Support enterprises in continuously improving their environmental development.

GO

AL

8 Encourage a

World alliance for development

Encourage alliances among organizations and national and International actors for development.

Additional information on the Millennium

Development Goals:

www.endpoverty2015.org

www.minbuza.nl

http://www.endpoverty2015.org/

http://www.minbuza.nl/


Mission

Environment

- Diminish environmental impact from company

operations.

Economic

- Financial stability.

- International presence.

- Satisfied clients having products that are practical for

their consumption.

- A stronger presence in current markets.

“We are a company dedicated to dehydration of fruit and

legumes, with the main purpose of satisfying the needs of our

clients, the expectations of our shareholders, and the aspirations

of our collaborators, by way of a good performance, and by

producing quality products. For this we have a well-trained and

motivated team, committed to a quality management system,

towards ongoing improvement”.

Vision

“Be an innovative Enterprise having national and international

presence; recognizable through the quality, values, and good

performance of our products, satisfying the needs of our

targeted market, by way of a good experience in quality

production and a personalized attention to our clients”.

Sustainability Policy

The company has created a sustainability policy aimed at

conducting its activities by way of sustainable development. The

following objectives apply to each dimension:

Social

- Share knowledge and experience with society on

topics dealing with technology, the environment, and

production.

- A direct relationship with agricultural producers.

- Work opportunities for community members.


Alimentos Campestres S.A.

in brief

Founded in 1990

Products Dried and dehydrated

food products

Labor force 68 (2011)

Associated

producers

81 (2011)

Shareholders 5

Annual sales 1554999 (2011)


The project at Alimentos Campestres

Purpose of the Loan

The funds provided by OikoCredit were utilized by Alimentos

Campestres towards satisfying working capital needs such as

payments for raw material (fruit and legumes) from local

producers, stational employees, and for the production process

in itself. Also, production staff was trained in topics essential to

their area of performance (i.e. manufacturing practices).


Milenium

Development Goal

Decent work and development

promotion by way of strengthening


CHAPTER’S SUMMARY

Alimentos Campestres has a direct impact on the development

of its groups of interest, which includes employees, producers,

consumers, the community, and the government. And so, by

strengthening competitivity at Alimentos Campestres, we also

ensure a positive influence among our stakeholders. This section

shows the contributions of our coop towards Millennium

Objective No. 1.


Employees

Currently, Alimentos Campestres S.A. has 68 hired staff, of

which a high percentage are stational due to the type of

activity (high product demand is higher from September to

November, approximately). The company has a strong

influence in the local labor force where 100% of the hired staff

is from the area (Zone 17 and 18).

When the high season begins, 25 to 30 people are hired to

carry out the dehydration process and 48 for the packaging

(of the two punch production lines).

Women empowerment

As a part of this objective (number 1), millennium

development goal 3 shows a direct relationship with the

working environment, stemming from different venues geared

towards strengthening the capacities of women as

entrepreneurs, employees, and producers. This aspect has

been seriously taken into account, and has favored a high

participation on women, representing half of their personnel,

and 100% at the supervision level. (See Graph 2 and 3).

Having such a high percentage of women is, by no doubt, of

a high benefit both to the company and to the communities,

particularly at the Palo Amontonado Plant, where many men

spend lengthy periods of time working in agricultural activities

in the United States, and for such reason, by working for the

company, women can have more stability and a better

quality of life.

Graph 2. Percentage of women at the operational level

Graph 1. Average number of staff employed

Graph 3. Percentage of employees from the community

“During the three years since I have worked for

the company, the conditions have been rightly

geared towards a very agreeable working

environment. I like what I do, because I have

been able to rotate among several

placements in the production area. One can

see that the company has much future, due to

the fact that their products are very innovative

and most of all, very healthy.”

Sarai Sánchez

Production


The following chart shows a summary of the work force at Alimentos Campestres, focusing on the high participation of women both at the

operational and the supervising levels, of which 100% are from the areas where the organization operates.

Key indicators 2009 2010 2011

Average number of people employed 69 71 68

Total wages paid including social security charges (US $) 144,669 168,866 158,995

Average annual wages per employee including payroll taxes (US $) 5,380 5,608 5,920

% of women at the operational level 52.0% 54.0% 50.0%

% of women at the supervision level 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

% of women at the administrative level 50.0% 60.0% 60.0%

% of personnel rotation 30.3% 32.5% 33.0%

% of employees from the community 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Average temporary employees (seasonal for harvest) 41 43 47

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“As a fundamental part of their homes, women have

excelled in the work area of society, and for such

reason the company has a high percentage of hired

women, whom have achieved a noticeable

performance in the production area, as operators,

supervisors, and personnel in charge, and also in

administration and accounting; contributing towards

achieving goals and objectives of the company,

and showing their capacities”.

Denise Ayala

Administrative Department

“I have been working for the company for two

years, and I hope to continue doing so,

because I like my job, and also because they

provide us with opportunities to learn new

things en in my area. The environment is

agreeable, and more so my peers, many of

which I know well because we’ve been

working together for a long time, and I like

that even more, because there is trust and

team work”.

Vilsan Janneth Castillo

Production


Producers

Production chains

An important aspect of Millennium Development Goal 1 is the creating

of production chains, aimed at vulnerable groups and local producers.

Alimentos Campestres have clearly covered this topic as a part of its

business strategy, as we hereby present.

The leading product in the company responds to a high seasonal

demand, and so, production staff is required mainly from September to

November. Alimentos Campestres thrives on commercializing new non-

stational products in order to create a demand for labor force that

would be supplied for year round and not just for a few months.

Likewise, commercialization of new products will, without a doubt,

increase fresh fruit sales which at the same time will benefit more

families working in the agricultural field. The new products are quite

innovative, and are geared towards the European and Anglo-Saxon

high demanding markets, which are also those with a higher purchasing

power, and are interested in natural products and exotic fruit.

These productive chains will also bring great benefits for Alimentos

Campestres, particularly towards an increase in their sustainability.

Productive Chain Vision

Graph 4. Average quintals processed

Graph 5. Total number of producers


The following chart shows key data related to Alimentos Campestres

and its main raw material suppliers.

Clients

The company commercializes its products national and

internationally through its owns brands and by private ones. For the

industrial and institutional markets, Alimentos Campestres

commercializes in bulk packaging with high quality raw materials

and specialized packaging.

The company’s marketing niche is composed by self-service stores,

supermarkets, promotional sales clubs, distributors, general markets,

industries, and an institutional area, offering a product that complies

with specific packing standards, code bars, exhibition boxes, and

modern and attractive packaging.

The following map shows the countries in which Alimentos

Campestres currently markets their products:

Asia North

America

Central

America

South

America

Europe

China

Taiwan

Canada

United

States

Mexico

Guatemala

El Salvador

Honduras

Nicaragua

Costa Rica

Chile

Argentina

Netherlands

Graph 6. Value of exports


Total number of fruit and vegetables prodcucers 65 76 81

Total number of apple producers 38 45 49

Total number of pineapple producers 1 2 2

Total number of cane producers 1 2 2

Average quintals processed 15,980 19,770 21,675


Major suppliers of basic inputs 35 38 32

Total number of suppliers 205 218 201

Total purchases from suppliers (US $) 861,944 1,085,741 1,280,256

Average purchases by supplier 4,205 4,980 6,369

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Environmental Sustainability

Chapter Summary

Alimentos Campestres has assumed leadership regarding

sustainability in the area where they operate, by way of diverse

initiatives favoring a balance with nature.

Renewable energy is a main principle towards sustainability,

and Alimentos Campestres takes this initiative to its maximum

expression, by way of consuming energy from the largest solar

thermic plant in Central America.

Milenium

Development Goal


Environmental policy

As a pillar supporting its environmental management

administration, Alimentos Campestres has created an

environmental policy by which they commit towards decreasing

and controlling environmental impact that could result from its

activities.

Environmental Management System

With the objective of complying with its policy towards securing

adequate environmental management control, Alimentos

Campestres designed an Environmental Management System

(EMS) in accord with specifications based on the ISO 14001:2004

standard.

Some of the main components and activities in this system are:

Evaluation of legal compliances

Internal auditing

Senior management revision

Identification of environmental threats

Training

Training and human resources

The company recognizes that the key towards achieving

success in the implementation of its Environmental

Management System is its human resources, and for such

reason, they have invested in staff training on topics related

to water, energy and waste management. Likewise, the staff

has become actively involved not only in the implementation

of the EMS, but also in its designing, and they have

collaborated towards identifying the most significant

environmental aspects which at the same has been helpful

towards training personnel to adopt a better collaborative

system.

Environmental Policy at Alimentos Campestres S.A.

“Alimentos Campestres, S.A. is committed towards the

environment, and for such reason uses clean and renewable

solar energy for their fruit and vegetable dehydration. We have

established a commitment towards decreasing environmental

impact resulting from dangerous solid organic residues, gas

emissions, and the use of propane gas, as well as optimizing use

of solar energy and disposing of residual waters. We implement

mitigation and preventative measures aimed at protecting the

environment, and complying with legal requirements

applicable to the company”

Environmental objetives:

Optimize use of solar energy.

Reduce use of propane gas, in order to achieve

more efficiency.

Implement measures to reduce generating solid

waste.

Optimize management and disposal of residual

waters.


Solid waste management

Even when the company does not generate a high volume of

solid waste due to its processing conditions and to the product

currently marketed, actions are being defined and applied

towards a cleaner production process (to avoid, reduce,

recycle, co-process, treat, and eliminate). Alimentos Campestres

reduces the quantity of organic waste as a strategy (in addition

to its environmental strategy) to improve improve the business

productivity, which has been achieved through a better raw

material management (making sure the fruit does not over-ripe

so it doesn’t have to be thrown away), better training for its

collaborators on inventory management and better

communication with its suppliers on dealing with product

specifications(these suppliers are periodically evaluated to

ensure provision of high quality raw material and to keep high

the percentage of compliant product which lowers the

percentage of waste generated).

Water

The company recognizes the importance of an efficient use

of water, and by so, has applied direct actions such as the

implementation of a leakage control program, training for

collaborators in ways to avoid waste and in the use of treated

water for irrigation (as is the case at the Palo Amontonado

plant).

Likewise, in a short term period, Alimentos Campestres will

invest in better water management practices and in the

implementation of a water treatment system at their plant in

Guatemala City.

At the production plant, waste is split up in categories towards recycling

of cardboard, paper bags, and plastic containers.


Energy

Due to increase in the cost of fossil fuel (in this case Propane

Gas), and because of the company’s commitment towards

fulfilling its environmental policy geared towards

environmental impact reduction, Alimentos Campestres with

the advice of the Cleaner Production Center of Guatemala

and CONA from Austria, and with support from E+Co, CCAD

and AEA, successfully developed and implemented a 400m²

dehydration plant at Palo Amontonado that works with solar

panels which attract enough solar energy for the functioning

of 2 rotational dehydrators on a 384 m² area. This source of

energy has enough capacity to process 2 tons of fresh raw

materials, daily.

Some of the main benefits from the Project are:

The use of 100% clean energy (solar energy)

Decrease in consumption of propane gas

Fruits preserves better their properties

Decrease in CO2 emissions

Generation of work opportunities in the rural area

Utilization of agricultural products, channeling

national producers towards foreign markets

Generating foreign exchange by way of product

exportation

Functioning as a pilot plan to generate information

on solar energy for diverse applications.

“By using solar panels the company has

monetary savings on the use of propane gas

for dehydration, and by so doing, also

decreases gas emissions which benefit the

environment.

Products elaborated are of a better quality

when solar energy is utilized, and this is due

to the fact that they do not lose their natural

flavor”.

Arturo Escobar

Production Manager


The development of this and other projects have contributed

significantly towards improving environmental performance of the

company and its productivity, and by so, Alimentos Campestres has

been granted important recognitions such as the CCAD Cleaner

Production Award, which was received in the year 2009, and the Best

Exporter Award in the innovative category, in 2007, presented by the

Guatemala Exports Association (AGEXPORT).

Page 20 shows a summary of the performance summary at Alimentos

Campestres.

“The importance of these recognitions is that

we are able to show the types of technologies

that are implemented at our company

towards promoting interest, from other groups,

to follow our example. This turns us into

pioneers in the implementation of solar energy

initiatives at the regional level.”

Sophia Reyes

Environmental System Management

Award for Innovative Company of the Year, 2007

Regional Award for Cleaner Production, 2009


Global Partnership

for Development

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Alimentos Campestres has developed and put into practice an

innovative vision approach to sustainability, and this vision is

reflected in the organizations and people allied to the

company that provide inputs in many ways necessary to follow

a path of sustainable development.

Milenium

Development Goal


Global Partnership

Alimentos Campestres has established diverse forms of

alliances with the objective of improving performance in

its activities, in both the socio-economical and the

environmental dimensions.

Some of the organizations that have had a major impact

on the company are:

CONA

An Austrian company, with expertise in the developing

and implementation of solar panels for dehydration

processes in Central America.

They provided a donation of US$ 23,500.00 for the

purchasing and constructing of the solar panels.

E+CO

An entity with regional offices in Costa Rica that supports

projects related to renewable energies at the industrial

level. E+Co approved a loan of US$ 125,000.00, payable

in 7 annual tracts, towards the constructing and

implementing of the solar plant.

AEA/CCAD

Alliance for Energy and Environment in Central America.

They granted a US$ 94,500.00 contribution towards

purchasing and implementing of solar panels, as well as

for the construction of dehydration areas, from their

renewable energy program.

CGP+L/CEGESTI

The Guatemalan Cleaner Production Center and CEGESTI

provided technical advice towards the environmental

impact reduction at the company, as well as a financial

analysis and the elaboration of the environmental policy.

AGEXPORT

Provides support to exporting companies by means of

resources, contacts, training, and development

programs.

OIKOCREDIT

Leading financial institution on investments for

development. They provide credit for capital investments

to increase production and purchasing volume to local

producers.

Graph 7. Partnerships towards development


Final Message

“For Alimentos Campestres, receiving financial

support from Oiko has been of great help. Thanks to

this support we have been able to consolidate solar

energy technology and a better relationship with

our producers. It has also been helpful in fulfilling

our commitment to become an ecologically

adapted, socially responsible, and economically

profitable enterprise”.

Luisa Fernanda Barrientos

Quality and Marketting


Alimentos Campestres´s Sustainability Indicators

The following pages integrate

all indicators detailed in the

previous chapters.


Alimentos

Campestres

Goal Dimension


Tax payment (US $) 12,569 9,296 18,270


Financial expenses (US $) 58,949 72,095 59,281


Number of shareholders 5 5 5

Payment of dividends (US $) 0 0 0

Average payment of dividends per partner (US $) 0 0 0

ROE (return on equity) 34 38 54

ROA (return on assets) 6.78 4.63 7.60


Annual sales (US $) 1,118,930 1,334,617 1,554,999

Value of exports (US $) 473,820 489,881 586,819

Total of assets (US $) 153,838 113,576 92,652

Total equity (US $) 776,898 926,569 656,187

Assets rotation 7 12 17

Profit margin 5% 4% 4%

Operational sustainability ratio 34 15.32 17.37

Interest coverage ratio 191% 154% 198%

Liquidity ratio 1.22 2.12 1.89

Acid Test 104.9% 176.7% 172.7%

Ratio of debt - equity (DE) 10.66 12.0955258 12.81340708

Liabilities - assets ratio 65.7% 65.2% 63.1%


Average number of people employed 69 71 68

Total wages paid including social security charges 144,669 168,866 158,995

Average annual wages per employee including 5,380 5,608 5,920

% of women at the operational level 52.0% 54.0% 50.0%

% of women at the supervision level 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

% of women at the administrative level 50.0% 60.0% 60.0%

% of personnel rotation 30.3% 32.5% 33.0%

% of employees from the community 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Average temporary employees (seasonal for 41 43 47


Total number of fruit and vegetables producers 65 76 81

Total number of apple producers 38 45 49

Total number of pineapple producers 1 2 2

Total number of cane producers 1 2 2

Average quintals processed 15,980 19,770 21,675


Major suppliers of basic inputs 35 38 32

Total number of suppliers 205 218 201

Total purchases from suppliers (US $) 861,944 1,085,741 1,280,256

Average purchases by supplier 4,205 4,980 6,369

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Data according to fiscal year, January 1st to December 31st

Indicador

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Goal Dimension


CO2 emissions from diesel

[tCO2e]68.91 71.8 102.7

CO2 emissions from electricity

[tCOe2]46.08 42.24 47.48

CO2 emissions from propane

[tCO2e]207.6 195 264.7


Direct consumption of electricity by qq processed

[kWh]8.26 6.12 6.27

Direct electricity consumtion [MWh] 132 121 136


Organic waste per qq processed relation 10.0% 12.0% 15.0%

% qq packed in bag / qq packed in glass jar 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%


Direct diesel consumption [gal] 3,100 3,230 4,620

Direct diesel consumption per qq processed [gal] 0.19 0.16 0.21

Direct consumption of propane gas [gal] 36,401 34,183 46,412

Direct consumption of propane gas per qq

processed[gal]2.28 1.73 2.14


Water consumption [m3] 1,580 2,387 2,115

Water consumption per qq processed [m3] 0.1 0.12 0.1

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Alimentos

Campestres

Goal Dimension

Key indicators 1997 - 2011*

National partners 6

International partners 3


Indicador

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*Most partnerships have been made outside the period 2009-2011, so it shows

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