2024-10-06 04:31:01
In 2023 they closed it with 22% revenue growth. We are already approaching the end of the year, what prospects do you have for this financial year?
They will be at the level we were looking for, an increase of about 20%.
You noted that the company has managed to keep pace despite inflation. Some consumer organizations have placed much emphasis on the idea that supermarkets have increased prices so as not to reduce their margins. In your case, what strategies did they follow with pricing to be competitive and profitable at the same time?
Our goal is to improve competitiveness points every year. In our area we are small compared to the distribution monsters, but every year we try to be a little better in terms of efficiency and operations and we always transfer this to the price. What we do is truly unique and special. We look for the highest quality of the product, but we are also concerned about the price because we want as many people as possible to come in and buy one, two or three categories from us.
This year they plan to open 10 new stores, have they already reached these numbers?
We’ll be around, yes.
There are more than 140 in Catalonia and you said that the room for growth is until they reach 243. If they reach these figures, are there any plans to open factories in the rest of the state?
We don’t rule out looking at it, but as you can see there is a lot of work here, we need to be even better in the processes and then now in the short term we will focus here.
They are working on Agroparc, one of the company’s most ambitious projects. Has the work already started?
No, we will try to start in the fall or early winter.
What objectives are they pursuing with this initiative and what impact do you think will be both for the company and for the sector?
We want it to be a window into our purpose, a space that ushers in the new era of agriculture and agri-food. In other words, we must incorporate technology, we must incorporate all the knowledge that allows us to be more circular and that this structure also leads us to demonstrate that this is compatible with efficiency. So with profitability.
When you talk about a new era is it because you think the impact of this project goes beyond Ametller Origen?
We want it to be a demonstration space, an open space to share with the sector. As long as it’s successful, we hope so.
Is project success based on profitability?
An important part of the agricultural project is assigned to production pilot projects to test how to incorporate knowledge and technology to seek this circularity, but starting from technology.
He was the first protagonist of the Girona conference series “From the earth to artificial intelligence”. How does artificial intelligence impact an industry like yours? Do you already know what some of its functions could be?
I think it is a technology that has come to change our world, it will have a greater impact than the Internet. We are incorporating it into our daily lives. Programmers use Copilot to be more efficient in programming, designers use artificial intelligence to be more efficient in designing, when I need to think about something ChatGPT helps me, which is a step, how it learns and how it improves. The problem is that many companies, including us, still have some knowledge gaps to see how to apply it, but it will be present today, in all areas, agricultural, productive, reuse, it is a revolution.
According to him, technology is one of the main challenges of the primary sector. To implement it, do you think that small producers will be forced to group together?
I think that the small producer should be supported, because he is like a lawyer who decides to work on his own, he can do it, but he needs to collaborate with others. It may be a small operation, but it must be accompanied, it must be shared, because there is a very important technological challenge. When we say that it must be professionalized it doesn’t mean that there is no room for the little ones, what there is no room for is non-professionalization.
Where do you think this professionalization will lead? In some cases it translates directly into investments.
I’m sure that if you go to the bank and convince them that there is a project accompanied by technology, by a strategic plan, because we have collaborated with five other manufacturers who want to make a certain product, we will do it in such a way and in this way they convince someone to finance it . For example, when we talk about the management of public money here I would see an interesting aid fund for small producers who want to join. That some systems, some tools already exist, but perhaps more.
What challenges do you see for Ametller Origen next year?
The challenges are not much different from those we faced this year. A colleague who commented on the challenge of people was right. We are dedicated to services, so we must continue to take care of people, continue to select better, give a meaning, a purpose, a reason for being to as many people as possible in our organization, this challenge will continue next year. Being able to contribute to reducing data on absenteeism which does not help and does not create value, but we also need to work on this, we need to work together with people, with teams. We want to continue to create extraordinary products, products that generate visits, that we live by, we live by discovery, products that are pleasant, that when you go home you want to go back to the store. We invest a lot of resources, this doesn’t happen spontaneously, we have to work on it.
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