Our Group, based in Beniparrell (Valencia, Spain), has an extensive presence worldwide. We have production centres and procurement offices for our different farming areas in Spain and in Italy, Poland, United Kingdom, Turkey, Argentina, United States and China. As for sales, we supply dried fruit and nuts to 34 countries.

We are a leading company in the food and beverage industry, established in 1940 and specialising in marketing dried fruit and nuts and mineral water. We work hard to bring together quality, innovation and sustainability in order to improve people’s health and well-being.

Lines of business

Our business is developed with a focus on improving people’s health and well-being, ensuring responsible production and consumption. The Group’s operations are divided into two main business lines: Food and Natural Drinks.

We enjoy extensive presence in the retail, industry and foodservice markets. In the Spanish retail market, we develop our business as suppliers of Mercadona; in the international retail market, we operate with Besana; and in the foodservice and industry markets through the Itac Professional brand.

Natural drinks we take care of the origin

Through its Natural Drinks division, Importaco is one of the leading companies in mineral water distribution in Spain, in terms of sales volume and share in the national retail market.

We have 4 mineral water springs: Bronchales in the Sierra de Albarracín mountains (Teruel), Font des Teix and Font S’Aritja in the Sierra de la Tramuntana mountains (Mallorca), Penyagolosa in Cortes de Arenoso (Castellón) and AguaDoy in Calera y Chozas (Toledo).

Our mineral water brands for the retail market, through our partnership with Mercadona, are Agua de Cortes, Agua de Bronchales, AguaDoy and Font S’Aritja. For the foodservice market, we supply Font des Teix and Agua de Cortes.

Economic and financial data

Revenue generated
Net sales	€661.835 million
Operating profit	€22.701 million
Profit before tax	€24.118 million
Profit after tax	€18.469 million
Net equity	€195.539 million
Investments	€25.468 million

Revenue distributed
Operating expenses	€47.384 million
Personnel wages	€65.193 million
Financial costs	€911 million

Sales volume
Dried fruit and nuts	105.182 million kilos
Mineral water	765.438 million litres

There is no doubt that the world has changed and this has changed consumer behaviour too. Stocking up and impulsive buys have given way to the new “conscious consumerism”. More than ever, people seek food products that will give them pleasure but will also protect their health and the planet.

At Importaco we aligned ourselves with this health and well-being trend years ago. Right from the start, we painstakingly select each product and take great care over the entire process, right until it reaches the market. Dried fruit and nuts, seeds and mineral water are the perfect food for this new era. They offer countless properties that are good for your health, but they are also tasty and pleasant to eat.

Technology centre

Every year, we invest over €6.5 million in quality and innovation. Our Technology Centre is the source of our quality and innovation strategies that are developed by a team of 40 professionals, with more than 10 of these having PhDs in science and technology. The team’s function is to lead the workflows related to innovation, quality and environment.

The centre has co-creation areas with seven sensory, physics, chemistry and microbiology labs with capacity for an average 24,000 analyses per year. It also has kitchens to design innovative products and a pilot plant for their scaling before they are fine-tuned at the Group’s production centres.

PROA Plan

We are always seeking the perfect product. We want to score nothing less than “ten out of ten”. To achieve this, we have drawn up a plan that places customers and consumers at the core of every decision taken – a plan with the power to boost all our projects related to excellence and quality. This is how the PROA Plan came to life in 2020. The actions developed within this initiative were the drafting of the PROA Manifesto that includes the ten keys to being customer-centric, and the creation of contribution workshops and excellence cells.

Contribution workshops

Contribution workshops were created to establish each professional’s contribution to the perfect product. At these workshops, we encourage them to discover, improve and practice their individual contribution that, day by day, improves their performance and the service we provide.

Excellence cells

These cells are cross-disciplinary teams created for a specific challenge and are always linked to innovation, excellence, product and process. We have a network of 46 cells focused on consumer-based needs which seek answers through multiple projects. The most relevant ones developed last year were those related to Quality 10 (Q10), raw material selection and the improvement of product preservation.

360º Quality Model

The 360º Quality Model conveys our commitment to transversal quality through four dimensions: Corrective, Preventive, Predictive and Exploratory. The Model brings the talent of Importaco’s professional team to the forefront, as their deep knowledge of dried fruit and nuts and mineral water is what improves our processes and products.

Corrective Quality focuses on improving processes by taking into account the suggestions received through the customer support systems. Preventive Quality works on action plans and projects to get ahead of our customers’ food-safety and quality requirements. Our production centres are equipped with the best technology, which ensures the stability and specialisation of each process and helps us earn the necessary international certificates, including BRC, and IFS Food, Kosher, Halal and SMETA 4P.

Innovation for customers

Innovation comes from information: we analyse consumers’ profiles in detail, their needs, expectations and consumption behaviour. The most notable lines in market research are the use of neuroscience, trend analysis and turning concepts into real products. Our analysis model takes into account three fundamental aspects. First, the sensory aspect, to measure the rational response and the description of the ideal product. Second, the evocative aspect, to understand memories and feelings connected to the product. And third, the emotional aspect, to detect what consumers feel when they see and eat or drink our product.

Importaco’s Innovation Project, applied to the dried fruit and nuts business, has three research areas: Origin, that seeks the best raw materials for each process; Product, focused on developing products such as pastes, roasted or processed products and flours; and Use, that matches each product with its use by category (chocolate, bakery, dairy, ice-cream and snacks). These processes are carried out alongside the companies we supply and, thanks to them, we launched 32 new products in the retail and industry markets in 2020.

In fact, Besana has launched 250 products in the retail market within the innovation areas of health, snacks and confectionery. It has also developed product improvements related to format changes, re-design and sustainability.

In the natural drinks business, innovation was applied to improve packaging and widen the range through new formats. In 2020, we launched a new sparkling water format for the Agua de Cortes brand, a 6-litre bottle for Agua de Bronchales and new designs for Font Teix.

Each partnership is a journey

Transparency and partnerships allow us to work with each company in a personalised manner. Importaco aims to build long-term relationships that will allow us to share our knowledge to improve people’s diets. Customer Centric Experience is our project for this objective. This
is a Customer Journey model in which the customer’s experience allows us to create a range of made-to-measure products and achieve a recommendation model that will boost its development.

Social actions to improve people’s health

Importaco works with social entities to improve people’s health and well-being through their diet. In 2020, we supported several public entities, including IFEMA Hospital, the Town Council of Talavera de la Reina (Toledo), the Health Service of Castilla la Mancha, the Móstoles Hospital and the Valencian Regional Government by donating mineral water and dried fruit and nuts. We also supported other social entities such as the Red Cross and the Centre Solidari d’Aliments de Sagunt.

2020 was the year marked by the pandemic. But it was also marked by passion and engagement. Every single person in the Importaco family has earned our appreciation and recognition. Thanks to them we created the Overcoming Barriers Together strategy to tackle the health and social crisis. We worked on three campaigns: “I take care of myself, you take care of me”, “Responsible heroes” and “Together we guarantee activity”. These tremendous efforts allowed us to protect the health of everyone involved and also continue to supply our society with food.

Our team: diversity, talent and commitment

Infrastructure and technology are indeed fundamental, but it is our people, the human team, who make our company’s quality stand out, and this is the key to success and well-being. Our team is known for its diversity, talent and engagement.

The diversity of skills and opinions makes our projects much richer and drives the company’s development and progress. Our team stands out for its diversity, as we have production centres and procurement offices all over the globe. In 2020, the Italian company Besana joined our Group. In other words, another 554 people joined our team and are working at the production centres in Italy and the UK. Through this merger, we also incorporated new leadership methods and boosted collaboration to become a leading European supplier in the food industry. Therefore, 2,081 people made up Importaco’s team last year.

Developing people

Our team’s personal growth, career and well-being are our priorities. To achieve this, we work on several pillars, including Leadership, Talent, Excellence and Innovation.

We believe in internal promotions as a way to guarantee the team’s professional development and motivation. And we also encourage the appointment of women to middle and senior management positions, based on the experience and knowledge gained in their work. In 2020, we had 20 internal promotions: 10 women and 10 men.

Development Programmes

The Development Programmes integrate projects to boost people’s motivation and development. The Leadership Model defines the ideal leadership behaviours: inspire, facilitate, be exacting, motivate and be nonconformist. The Working Environment Study and Performance Reviews help us achieve the highest level of well-being and professional development. According to the 2020 analysis, we have improved our communications, work organisation and support among co-workers. We have also assessed the performance of 425 members of staff, of which 274 used the new interactive tool that facilitates dialogue and helps establish training plans to improve their skills.

Annual training plan

Training is also an essential tool to improve professional skills. We have invested over €400,000 in an Annual Training Plan adapted to our employees’ needs. We have our own Training School in addition to established alliances with specialised schools, such as EDEM Business School. In 2020, we completed the shift to virtual training with online classes for all factories. And with the REM Project we have promoted courses on Lateral Leadership, Sustainable Growth, High-Performance Teams and Change Management. In total, we gave 39,818 hours of courses to 19,060 men (an average of 15.48 hours) and 20,758 women (an average of 21.06 hours).

Occupational health and safety

COVID-19 left its mark on the occupational health and safety policy in 2020. At Importaco, under the “I take care of myself, you take care of me” strategy, we have worked hard to keep our staff safe at all times: supplying facemasks, guaranteeing safe working distance and hygiene, providing PCR tests, forming bubbles and stepping up the cleaning measures in our premises.

Health and safety management system

Importaco’s Global Health and Safety Management System is certified by the ISO 45001: 2018 standard in 7 workplaces. Occupational health and safety objectives can only be achieved through the engagement of every single person. Therefore, when negotiating our own collective agreements, we include important aspects such as the provision of personal protective equipment, the creation of Health and Safety Committees, employee participation, training, complaint mechanisms, and the right to refuse unsafe work.

Labour relations

Importaco supports and respects the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Dialogue has been especially important in 2020. During the hardest months of the pandemic, when we had to supply the public with food, it became essential to reach agreements on work flexibility and well-being. To reward our personnel’s engagement, in 2020 we paid out over €3 million in bonuses linked to the employees’ efforts during the pandemic and the fulfilment of the business plans.

Collective agreements

We have two collective agreements: one for corporate management and the dried fruit and nut business that is in force until 2020; and another for the natural drinks business that is in force until 2021. These two agreements offer better remuneration terms than the industry-wide agreements. They also offer better conditions regarding other major aspects such as irregular shifts, flexibility and work-life balance. 100% of our personnel in Spain is covered by a collective agreement. And for all other countries in which we operate, we follow the country’s regulations.

Equality and diversity

We can only create fair and diverse work environments by guaranteeing equal opportunities in accessing jobs and in the course of professional functions. Diversity enriches us, drives change and brings together the different points of view in society. Our staff is made up of 23 different nationalities, which boosts the creation of multicultural and international teams. Also, our company has achieved gender parity: 1,047 men and 1,034 women.

Equality measures

The success of the equality measures we have implemented is significant: female presence in responsible positions has grown considerably in the past five years. Women account for 50% of Importaco’s Management Committee, internally called the Executive Committee. And the number of women in middle and senior management positions in the company has doubled in only a few years, currently standing at 38%.

Collaboration across the entire agri-food chain is key to obtain nutritional and safe food. As part of our sustainable sourcing programmes for dried fruit and nuts, we work alongside farmers and businesses in the agri-food industry. Our common aim is to find the best variety, the best origin, the best product: a level of excellence that will exceed consumer expectations.

Responsible sourcing

We create value throughout the supply chain, guaranteeing the food safety, quality, and sustainability of all our products. We classify our suppliers as preferred, recurrent and occasional, according to the purchase volume and their level of compliance with our policies. Our long-term relationship with Preferred Suppliers (PPS) allows us to develop projects with them on food safety, quality and sustainability. At present, 80% of our raw materials (in terms of volume) is sourced from these suppliers.

Agricultural Integration

The purpose of our Agricultural Best Practices Programme is to ensure the highest standards of food safety, quality and sustainability in growing dried fruit and nuts. Adjusting to the specific needs of both the cultivation process and the farmers, we provide the most efficient support in each case: from our direct collaboration with agricultural projects, to monitoring.

The programme includes peanuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, corn and pumpkin seeds. In total, we have 450 collaboration agreements with farmers aimed at transferring consumer expectations to the technical parameters of crops. In field visits, we draw up a profile for each crop and determine the risks related to the crop’s agricultural conditions.

Quality from the origin

In order to fully meet consumer expectations, we develop quality plans for every stage in the chain. The Quality at Origin Programme aims to collaborate with direct suppliers on a common project for quality and food safety. This allows us to standardise the product specifications and processing.

Our quality experts work in all geographical areas to improve the processes in the value chain. In 2020, we worked with 153 companies to bring their quality management systems up to Importaco’s standards. We have also validated new suppliers and production processes for sunflower seeds, hazelnuts and mango, to ensure their freshness all year round.

Responsible sourcing

We are committed to respecting human rights and the international standards established by the International Labour Organization and the OECD. Our Social Compliance Programme began in 2012 to work with suppliers on improving labour conditions according to the ILO's international labour standards, and to protect the environment, according to Importaco’s standards.

To date, 68 suppliers have signed their commitment to these principles. The general conditions agreed include social clauses aligned with our social responsibility and environmental standards. The programme is developed globally, applying the due diligence criteria to avoid violations. Its scope has been defined according to the characteristics of each country where our suppliers operate and according to the purchase volume. To evaluate each country’s level of risk, we use the national Human Development Index defined by the United Nations Development Programme.

Climate change, loss of biodiversity and water shortage are some of the threats to the sustainability of our planet. Importaco is well aware that our development must be sustainable. But that’s not all: we also want to be part of the solution against those global threats. In order to shrink our environmental footprint, we promote the sustainable use of resources and invest in environmentally friendly technologies.

Energy transition

limate change affects our health and the development of many regions in the world. For this reason, we have two missions: getting ahead of its effects and stepping up our efforts to achieve decarbonisation in order to reach the climate goals. With this philosophy in mind, we launched our energy efficiency strategy in 2018, to reduce the power used at our production centres and to foster the use of renewable energy.

In 2020, we reached our goal of reducing our energy consumption by 10% since 2018. This means that we cut down our CO2 emissions by 1,700 tonnes per year at our production centres in Spain. Also, we gave priority to using clean energy, such as renewable electricity and heat produced by a biomass boiler. By doing this, we cut down our carbon emissions by 15,612 tonnes per year. At present, over 95% of the total electricity consumed comes from renewable sources, and 56% of all the different types of energy used also come from renewable sources. Our goal is to keep increasing this percentage every year.

Sustainable use of water

Water is one of the scarcest natural resources on the planet and its availability is marked by shortages and pollution. Using it in a responsible way must be a shared commitment. This reality, along with climate change and population growth, makes it essential to apply environmentally friendly measures. Aware of this, Importaco is determined to protect water resources, reduce pollution and guarantee its efficient use.

In the dried fruit and nuts business, we apply these measures to farming and to industrial processing. We work with farmers to ensure an efficient use of water and guarantee its quality, using fewer chemicals.

The natural drinks business requires purity of springs and the sustainable use of water throughout the process. Our springs are therefore surrounded by security barriers to protect them and prevent contamination by external factors. During the process, we use systems to monitor the state of the aquifers to increase bottling efficiency.

Water consumption and waste	2019	2020
Consumption (m3)	860,488	891,106
Wastewater (m3)	61,814	82,752
Wastewater (t)	8,890	10,308

The water we consume comes from the public supply network (dried fruit and nut business) and from underground collection points (natural drinks business). In 2020, the total water consumed by both businesses together was 891,106 cubic metres. As for the industrial water derived from the production processes, it is treated by authorised operators or at our own premises. The industrial wastewater produced by the process was 82,752 cubic metres and 10,308 tonnes in total.

Circular economy

Our sustainability strategy includes circular economy criteria. In other words, we support reusing, reducing and recycling waste. This includes all the materials and products derived from producing food with a high added value, in addition to reducing the environmental impact to a minimum in all the stages in the product life cycle, from its design to its consumption.

The packaging, essential to guarantee the food safety and quality of our products, is also a way of communicating with consumers. It gives them information on the ingredients, nutritional properties and recommended use, and it also promotes healthy habits. But it will only be useful if we also guarantee its sustainability.

In the natural drinks business, 95% of the packaging is already recyclable. And in 2021 we will market products with 25% of rPET. Furthermore, making lighter bottles has saved 1,944 kg of plastic. Regarding the dried fruit and nuts business, the packaging challenge lies in combining its barrier function that keeps the product fresh with the recyclability of the materials used. To achieve this, we are researching smart packaging that will improve product conservation and design it according to the sustainability standards. Our goal is to ensure that all our packaging is entirely recyclable by 2025.

In 2020, the materials used to package and bottle our products were cardboard, plastic, glass and metal. As for the cardboard used, at least 70% is made with recycled materials and 4,415 tonnes come from sustainable forests under FSC certification.

With the systems deployed to reduce, classify and recycle the waste produced, we recovered over 5,000 tonnes per year, turning this into energy or materials, such as cardboard or plastic. Likewise, through the Acteco programme that collects bottle tops, we collaborated with Novaterra Foundation to fund the “A journey to dignity” project that reinserts people who are at risk of exclusion into the job market.

Material consumption (t)	2019	2020
Cardboard	6131	6700
Plastic	14,390	15,231
Glass	0.10	10,308
Metal	0.009	42

Sustainable products

In order to guarantee the smallest environmental footprint and encourage healthier diets, all our environmental actions are passed on to the
 end product.

We create a sustainable product, starting with its cultivation. At this stage, our Agricultural Best Practice Programme applies measures that will protect biodiversity, reduce the use of chemicals and keep the soil in good condition. These actions included doubling the number of agreements with farmers devoted to growing organic almonds; working with organic fertilizers from 2021; using ground cover at Importaco Terra; and only using palm oil that has been certified by RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) to make sure that it comes from sustainable forests.

Waste produced (t)	2019	2020
Cardboard	1,327	1,646
Plastic	400	447
Organic	1,882	2,492
Raffia	237	331
Industrial waste	617	902
Wood	200	193
Scrap metal	59	19
Oil	377	313
Total non-hazardous waste	5,100	5,091
Total hazardous waste	50	65

Environmental culture

All our production centres in Spain and Turkey are currently certified with the ISO 14001 environmental management standard. This management system is overseen from the company’s corporate divisions and is implemented at each production centre according to their processes, in order to reduce their footprint. This certification confirms that Importaco complies with all environment-related laws and regulations.

In addition, before implementing any new processes, we assess their effects on the environment in order to avoid a negative impact. Our goal is to always reduce pollution and control emissions, noise and light pollution that may affect our environment.

Importaco’s Annual Convention

In January, Importaco held its Convention where we informed 229 professionals of the company’s 2019 financial statements and the most relevant projects in 2020. Some of the projects introduced were our sustainability strategy, the opening of the sunflower seed factory and the REM project.

Overcoming Barriers Together

In March, the need to look after people led us to launch the Overcoming Barriers Together strategy based on three pillars: “I take care of myself, you take care of me”, “Responsible heroes” and “Together we guarantee activity”. This initiative helped us to combine our efforts to protect health and supply food to society.

Importaco Connect

In order to further our commitment to employee participation, we released the latest version of Importaco Connect. This app, available for mobile, allows us to announce the company’s developments on a daily basis and talk with teams to improve our internal processes.

International expansion

With a view to making progress with our international expansion and further specialise in dried fruit and nuts and natural drinks, in July we announced that Besana would be becoming part of the Importaco group. This Italian company shares our quality, innovation and sustainability goals applied to the dried fruit, nuts and seeds sector.

New almond tree orchard at Importaco Terra

Importaco Terra is our project to grow our own almond trees. Within the framework of this project, we have added a new 250-hectare farm that deepens our knowledge about growing almond trees. This land will produce its first crop in 2022 and adds to the 300 hectares we already grow in Spain and Portugal.

Factory specialising in processing almonds

Our almond factory has become one of the most specialised factories in the group as it incorporates the almond paste process. Its fantastic nutritional properties make it an ingredient with a huge value for the food industry.

Raw material selection section

We have created a new section in the Beniparrell (Valencia) dried fruit and nuts factory to select the raw materials used in this factory. Some of the products that undergo this new process are shelled sunflower seeds, pistachios and cashew nuts.

New sunflower seed factory in Parc Sagunt

The lockdown led sunflower seed consumption to soar by over 100%. In view of this, we opened the factory and we increased the production of this product in record time. During its first year, the factory has supplied 63 million packets.

New formats for Agua de Bronchales

Agua de Bronchales stands out for its composition, as it has such a low mineral content. In order to meet a wider array of needs, we expanded our range with two new formats: the 6-litre and 1.5-litre bottles.

UTZ certificate granted to our chocolate factory

The plant where we produce dried fruit and nuts with chocolate is now certified by the UTZ standard. This certificate guarantees that the chocolate has been grown sustainably, looking after people and the environment.

PROA: On course for excellence

The PROA Plan was launched to strengthen our commitment to quality and excellence. This is a cross-disciplinary initiative that includes the projects carried out by Importaco to guarantee a five-star product. Our aim is to involve the entire organisation in working towards our common goal: we want every single customer to have an unforgettable experience.

We reduced our energy consumption by 10%

We have completed our 2018-2020 Energy Efficiency Strategy, reducing our energy consumption by 10%. Our production centres in Spain use renewable energy and thanks to our energy-efficiency measures, we have reduced our carbon emissions by 1,700 tonnes a year.