INNOVATION

GRI: 103-1

In order to keep the attention of our consumers, that is, with their hearts open to receive all that we have to offer, we operate under a culture of innovation, which is one of the five pillars of the Company’s strategy.

Our core strategies:

  • 1. To maintain and form partnerships through the development of market intelligence.
  • 2. To implement innovation and transactional technologies that allow the acceleration of communication processes with the consumer.
  • 3. To promote sustainable management, prioritizing water conservation and efficient use of energy.
  • 4. To support and generate growth through the development of talent and investment in infrastructure.
  • 5. To form responsible corporate citizenship that promotes social development initiatives.

Innovation represents almost 40% of the growth of brands in the food and beverage industry (Nielsen, 2018), however only 14% of launches achieve successful penetration and only 7% generate an incremental volume of sales for their category (Kantar, 2019).

That is why we have an Innovation Department, whose purpose is to pinpoint the consumer needs that have not been covered, to thereby capitalize those opportunities and generate growth in our portfolio of products and brands.

Before counting on those consumers, we must get to know them

We strive to achieve a deep knowledge of our consumers and to understand their present and future needs, in order to create products of value that will fortify our growing portfolio.

To accomplish this, we carried out a consumer workshop in 2019, in a process known as “co-creation,” where more than 1,500 ideas were generated and led to the development of 138 conceptual prototypes, which were tested with consumers. From this process, we obtained 29 ideas with a high potential to expand volume in 11 of the Company’s categories.

Innovation snacks

Tell us what you crave, and we will come up with the innovation that best suits your palate. How about pasta prepared by experts? Or toast with mildly spicy jam? Or maybe ice cream with a touch of Bailey’s? Whatever you may decide, we will have it!

#JuevesBarilla

This initiative was intended with the purpose of increasing our penetration in the pasta consumption market through Barilla. It consisted of presenting new recipe ideas every Thursday, which is the day of the week with the greatest consumption of pasta. (Of course, now, every day can be a Thursday!)

  • Two master #JuevesBarilla dinners in spectacular locations in Mexico City.
  • Social media contest mixed with a product purchase to win double tickets to the dinners.
  • Media and influencers’ participation.
  • Storefront exhibitions.

#JuevesBarilla Anahuacalli Museum

  • In the first dinner (April to May) we reached 2,221,592 people in our social networks and received 8,015 enthusiastic comments.
  • In the second dinner (July to August) we reached 20,128,249 people in our social networks and received 61,548 comments. This surpassed our expectations!

#JuevesBarilla Casa de Bola Museum

Marmalade and gelatin with chili

A mildly hot snack! We launched a new line of marmalade and gelatin powder with chili, combining the best of sweet and spicy, to please the palates of our millennial consumers.

  • Innovative flavors for our marmalades (mango and habanero chili, pineapple and pasilla chili, red fruits and morita peppers) and gelatin powder (mango and watermelon with chili).
  • A launching event for gelatin powder with the #GelatinasConChilitoMcCormick hashtag and a Spicy Picnic for marmalades with the #MermeladasConChile hashtag.
  • Reviews by happy diners have reaffirmed our leadership in the marmalade category in Mexico, with a 45% share of the market in volume and value.
  • We became pioneers in Mexico regarding innovation in marmalades and gelatin flavors, with these launches.

La Lechera platform of ice cream and popsicles, and the launching of Baileys frozen products

During the year we invested in the innovation of our frozen products’ flavors in alliance with La Lechera and Baileys brands, which we transformed into ready-made desserts in ice cream and in coated and stuffed popsicles.

  • Iconic flavors such as key lime pie, dulce de leche and Irish cream.
  • A platform of recipes in which La Lechera frozen products are used, encouraging the consumers of sweets to try them at home.
  • For the La Lechera platform, a digital strategy with “influencers” and for Baileys, advertisers in the traditional media.
  • 1 million digital impacts and 289 thousand thru plays on Facebook, which generated a majority of positive comments.
  • More than 450 thousand views in the Frozen Key Lime Pie and Strawberry Milkshake recipes from La Lechera.
  • The 1.9 Baileys ice cream was categorized as an In & Out product in the Sam’s Club chain and, given its good performance, will remain on the market in 2020.
  • Among our impulse products, the Baileys Iced Popsicle already has a 4% share of sales of Bailey products.
 

DIGITAL INNOVATION SNACKS

We are convinced that innovation in food goes beyond creating new flavors. This “digital snacks” come as a result of our endeavor to disprove the idea that food cannot be enjoyed through our phone screens. Let anyone who does not begin to drool when he sees a chocolate-coated popsicle on a monitor throw the first stone (or spoon).

E-commerce of organic foods

Our brand of organic foods came up with one of the most innovative ideas in our recipe book: the first successful attempt to sell organic products directly to our consumers through e-commerce.

Now the best organic products grown in Mexico can arrive directly at your table with a couple of clicks!

  • A dedicated team of guardians and ambassadors of Mexico’s farmlands.
  • A wide portfolio of organic products, including two organic foods pantry packages.
  • The development of a 100% sustainable packaging material, with cushioning for the boxes (to prevent bruising of the product) made of corn fiber that dissolves in water.
  • More than MXN 570,000 in sales and a month-to-month growth in sales of 20% since February*.
*Consolidated results in the Preserves segment.

The Nutrisa app

The new Nutrisa app has it all to become the main course. With this new app, we hope to reinforce the brand loyalty of our Nutrisa fans, expecting them to find in it everything needed to keep loving the brand unconditionally.

  • A social media strategy for awareness between our +736,000 fans on Facebook and +36,000 followers on Instagram.
  • Great discounts and promotions.
  • A loyalty program linked to the app. Five Nutrisa bees to win a free ice cream!
  • An average of 9,500 downloads of the app per month, surpassing our expectations by 80%.
  • 53,544 organic downloads of the app. It became the app of the day!
  • 43% of the users who registered are currently active users, well above the 30% average for the industry. Full bellies and a happy hearts!