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Well, these SEAPI spaces are best described as micro-diplomas in business case studies, and whenever we face this challenge as journalists, we turn to something learned from covering various types of events: comparative analysis in academic terms, or simply making an effort to explain the magnitude of the facts as if to a 3-year-old using modeling clay.
Behind every time we eat a "perro caliente," as we say in Colombia, a hot dog or a hamburger, there is a company that is the bakery — the largest bakery in the world in Daniel's terms; a bakery that has, as he corrected me, 250 factories. He told me: "No, factories sounds... no, we have 250 bakeries around." The whole world, 39 countries, more than 150,000 employees, and let's compare that with sales that are gradually approaching 23 to 24 billion dollars, which, roughly speaking and depending on the exchange rate, is equivalent to the GDP of some Central American economies or one or two in South America.
It is a truly world-class company. We are facing an unprecedented business case, and it was the first one where the grandparents of the pioneers of the Servitje family went to Mexico and developed this entire emporium, an emporium that today is facing growth in India and China.
And that is a bit of an introduction to a great businessman, a great investor, and a person who, like few others, has a map of how, let's say, how the world consumes bread. Well Daniel, I think that's more or less an introduction, but it would be ideal if you could tell us about that growth, how the leap happened, and particularly the move at the beginning of the century, 1905, 1915, by the grandparents, and the return to create this great company, let's say, from Catalonia to Mexico. I'm not sure what the term is to define it. Learned.
Well, yes, can you hear me, right?
Hello. Well, a very good afternoon to you all. It's a pleasure, Nuria, to be here at one of the many events you organize, and it's the first time I've had the opportunity to participate.
Well, our company's history spans 80 years of service and existence, and as you mentioned, my grandparents — three of my four grandparents — are Catalan. They emigrated to Mexico, I believe, around the early 1900s, probably 1910. And well, they built their lives there, and one of them learned the trade of being a baker and pastry chef. And later, my grandmother also took charge of the pastry shop.
Bimbo, as such, is not related to that origin from a corporate standpoint. It was a company that followed its own path, and during the Second World War, those young men — who would be called startup founders today, but back then were just entrepreneurs — began this adventure in Mexico City.
One of them, Jaime Jorba, was Spanish, Catalan, and years later, around the 60s, he decided to start this business venture in Spain and opened the first plant in Granollers, here in Catalonia, right? And later in Madrid and other places. This company was sold around the 70s to an American firm, also in the baking industry, and it wasn't until about 15 years ago that we formally integrated this Spanish operation into Grupo Bimbo, which shared the brand name but wasn't corporately part of the group.
Bimbo is listed on the Mexican stock exchange and obviously must have certain conditions or a prior analysis, doing some foresight before entering different countries. How do you identify the markets where you want to grow organically or inorganically by buying companies or simply by installing bakeries?
Well, I think that it's quite curious, because one would think there's a lot of study and sophistication, but in our experience, what we are always analyzing are opportunities. And what we've seen is that, basically, inorganic growth, international growth, is something we achieve through acquisitions. And once we are in a country, that is when we start to invest organically based on the very specific opportunities we see for new production lines, new categories, an increase in the distribution network, and so on.
But the determination of which country we are going to participate in and how is rather, well, by looking at the portfolio of alternatives presented to us and finding the ones that can create an advantage that we think a priori (though we are often wrong), but that can be more sustainable over time. And we don't necessarily discriminate whether it is small, medium, or large, but rather which of these opportunities is the one that in the long term can be an opportunity that fits with what we do and that is sustainable over time, whether it's because of its market position, its innovation, or the brand that comes with it.
China and India, any global corporation faces two major challenges, one country with 1.3 billion and the other with 1.38 billion inhabitants — they are two challenges. Bimbo is present in both, in China and India. The, let's say, the origin — not so much origin, but the English influence in India — does that make India more interesting than China, or how are both markets approached?
Well, we talked about that when we met, Fernando. The operation we have in China has two components: one of, let's say, products like the ones we have here, branded products, but the vast majority of our revenue comes, fundamentally, from what is the service, let's say, to companies that sell fast food across China, and we already have more than 10 bakeries dedicated to that.
In India, it is basically branded products, and it is a consolidation of three acquisitions we have made over the last 6 years. And there, yes, we are growing with new facilities, well, depending on the opportunities that are presenting themselves. It is an economy that is having very accelerated changes in consumption, in distribution, and in income that deserve, well, to be up to the challenge, right? Each country moves at different sizes and speeds, and the company has to, well, in a way, accompany that distinct rhythm it has, right?
One of the most interesting things when one, let's say, analyzes or understands the Bimbo business case is how much it has helped the economies of the immigrant diaspora, such as in Latin America, to position their products through all these Bimbo factories. For example, Colombian "calados," I don't know how to explain, "calados" are called... here they call them toast bread, toasted, bread, oh it has another name here, but I don't remember it anymore.
They become a sort of export, I think they are sometimes called ethnic exports, where the wave of immigrants goes, they find the products they consume and they actually create factories. In fact, one of Bimbo's most important markets is obviously the United States, but not just because of fast food, but because all the Mexicans, all the Colombians bring their dietary habits and customs, and Bimbo is behind each one of those exports. The exports, where do they make them? How do they penetrate markets? What is the policy for exporting bread?
