Baking & Snack - September 2023 - 26

nities it operates in as well as the
environment. These commitments
are distilled into three categories:
Baked For You, Baked
for Life and Baked for Nature,
which provide action points to
take its vision off the page and
make it a reality.
Baked For You encompasses
the company's relationship
with the consumer and includes
the three beliefs of Best
Nutritional Profiles for All,
(From left) Lorenzo
Servitje, José T. Mata,
Jaime Sendra, Jaime
Jorba and Roberto
Servitje stand outside
Panificación Bimbo,
the original bakery they
founded that would
grow to be Grupo Bimbo.
This baking facility still
operates today as Bimbo
Santa María.
tive and deeply humane company - drives it to be better.
" One of our founders, Don Roberto Servitje, said, 'It is
a tension that keeps us moving,' " said Raul Obregon, chief
information and transformation officer, Grupo Bimbo.
" When we become highly productive, we have to ensure
we remain deeply humane, and when we become deeply
humane, we have to ensure being highly productive. I'm
not sure if we'll ever fully realize this philosophy, but it is a
constant tension that moves us forward, and I would say it
makes us obsessed with the front line. As leaders we have
to be close to our markets, the technology, the bakeries,
our associates and the vendors so that we can have a true
understanding of if we are being truly sustainable, deeply
humane and highly productive. "
Grupo Bimbo has focused these three priorities into
seven different beliefs that help balance those tensions: " We
value the person; we are one community; we compete and
win; we act with integrity; we get results; we are sharp operators;
we transcend and endure. "
" If we were having this conversation with our founders,
" WHEN WE BECOME
HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE,
WE HAVE TO ENSURE
WE REMAIN DEEPLY
HUMANE, AND
WHEN WE BECOME
DEEPLY HUMANE,
WE HAVE TO ENSURE
BEING HIGHLY
PRODUCTIVE. "
Raul Obregon, Grupo Bimbo
those values from 1945 may have evolved, but I would say
the essence is the same, " Mr. Obregon explained. " It's about
the individual and helping them achieve
their maximum potential when they're
working at Grupo Bimbo. As we have approached
and entered new geographies,
this essence of valuing the individual, how
they are and what they stand for, is what
differentiates Grupo Bimbo when we enter
a new country, whether it's Romania,
Argentina or the United States. "
A plan to walk the talk
In 2020, Grupo Bimbo reaffirmed its vision
into a plan to become a fully regenerative
business. This plan is centered
around the company's purpose: to nourish
a better world, which encompasses
the commitments the company has made
to consumers, its employees, the commu26
Baking & Snack September 2023 / www.bakingbusiness.com
Transparent Sustainable Brands and Enabling Healthier
Plant-Based Diets. Baked For Life covers beliefs that aim
to improve the lives of everyone Grupo Bimbo reaches:
Strengthening Communities and Caring for Our People.
Baked For Nature communicates Grupo Bimbo's commitment
to the planet and includes the company's
over-arching sustainability goals: Towards Zero Waste,
Convert into Regenerative Agriculture and Net Zero
Carbon Emissions. Foundational to these commitments
are Grupo Bimbo's non-negotiables: environmental standards,
food safety and quality, human rights and labor
standards, and sustainable raw material sourcing.
This level of communicating culture and mission may
seem like overkill, but it has been critical in helping Grupo
Bimbo make decisions in every aspect of business that help
move the company in the direction it wants to grow without
compromising on its identity.
" The seven beliefs are the backbone of what we try to
do, " Mr. Obregon said. " It's implementing technology and
enabling change not for the sake of change but for the possibility
to maximize the potential for us as a company because
we like to compete and win. But it's also about enabling
change and transformations so that everyone wins,
not just the company but the individuals who work for
Grupo Bimbo and the communities that we operate in. "
While Grupo Bimbo has evolved and expanded across
the globe, this extensive manifesto helps the company stay
true to itself regardless of where it is and remain true to
the founders' vision, regardless of becoming a publicly
traded company and adapting to changes in technology
and new regulations.
" Grupo Bimbo changes all the time: the technology, the
people, the learnings, but the culture remains, " said Paola
Agonizantes, production director at Bimbo Santa María,
the company's original bakery that still operates today.
" For me, it's important to see the work, the technology and
the equipment change, but the values, the passion, people,
respectability and our consumers are the most important
parts of the company, and those cannot change. "
Ms. Agonizantes believes it's the commitment to this
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