2024-01-27 09:28:00
Clasol is a family business from Castellón, whose origins date back to 1962, which operates in the fruit and vegetable sector, participating in all phases of the value chain: cultivation, processing, marketing and logistics. The company has promoted a comprehensive digitalization project that aims to implement an advanced control and management system for all the company’s internal resources and processes.
César Claramonte is the CEO of Clasol, a finalist company in the CEPYME 2023 Awards, in the SME Digital Transformation category.
How did you decide to submit to the CEPYME Awards?
In 2022 we received the CEPYME 500 certificate, in which Clasol was recognized as one of the 500 leading growing Spanish companies. In 2023 we have continued working to increase our growth and business development and, with a lot of effort, we have achieved great results. This is why we decided to present our candidacy for different categories of the CEPYME 2023 Awards.
What conditions does your company meet to attend them?
The CEPYME Awards recognize different factors in which Clasol has made great evolution and development in recent years. Business excellence is represented in the considerable increase in our activity, while internationalization is our mission as comprehensive fruit suppliers for international supermarkets. In the last three years, results have been achieved in job creation with good percentages of wage equality, but also due to investment in innovation both in crops and in the management of business processes. All this, always maintaining our commitment to the environment and without losing the essence of a family business.
Do you think that the CEPYME 2023 award could improve the image of your company in the eyes of clients, suppliers and future investors?
Although our image is based mainly on the quality of our service and our products, we believe that being awarded this award would be a great opportunity to highlight the hard work that is done every day by all the members of our team. . Being recognized by an institution like CEPYME would be a differential indicator for our stakeholders.
How has your company faced the increase in costs and the consequences of the pandemic?
Our activity is within the fruit and vegetable sector, food sector and basic necessities, so the consequences of the pandemic did not affect the fulfillment of our strategic plan. However, the increase in costs is something that is reflected in all parts of our supply chain. Clasol, from its position, has faced this increase in cost by defending higher final prices against offers from third countries with very competitive prices.
What measures have they adopted to face this new crisis caused by inflation and the lack of some supplies?
Much of the measures taken are in the purchasing area. Clasol has created an expert team of people who are working on measures such as purchasing planning (anticipation), obtaining the product on a large scale (ensuring volumes) and also the collection of materials together with our network of suppliers, substantially improving the forecasts. Additionally, the company’s management has opted to work on the efficiency of all the processes associated with our activity with the help of independent experts.
Have they recovered their pre-pandemic activity and results?
Clasol has been able to fulfill the strategic plan defined for the period 20219-2024, substantially increasing its turnover volume from 20 million euros to 60 million euros that we expect to close the current fiscal year. Likewise, this increase is reflected in the creation of employment, multiplying the number of people by four, the expansion of our central offices in Burriana (Castellón) and the incorporation of information systems to improve information control.
Objectives and main challenges of your company for the coming years
At Clasol our main objective is to control all points of the supply chain, as we know that it is the key to guaranteeing quality from the origin to the point of sale and to continue our path to fulfill our company vision: to become a benchmark at the European offering the best advice and service to our clients, from the beginning of the process to delivery to their delegations.
We are aware that we are going to have to face different challenges such as the integration of suppliers and customers, and continue growing in all our areas in order to become a comprehensive operator of international reference.
What measures has your company taken to ensure equality?
For our company, women have always been a fundamental pillar of our structure. Therefore, they are given the same opportunities as their colleagues and a safe work environment is offered to them. Our hiring policy is based on selecting the best profiles, and in our case, women have passed more recruitment processes than men. The number of women on the team has always been equal to or greater than the number of men. Our goal is that the percentage of women in management positions does not drop below 50%.
Furthermore, in the workplace the female presence is underrepresented. Employees have at their disposal the protocol against workplace harassment, which aims to define guidelines that allow us to identify a situation of harassment, whether moral, sexual or based on sex, in order to solve a discriminatory situation. seeking, at all times, to guarantee the rights of the victims. Clasol has defined and approved a job manual (15 DPT) in which all employees who perform similar jobs (or jobs with the same productivity) receive the same remuneration, regardless of sex, race, sexual orientation, nationality or religion. Clasol’s training policy is based on the philosophy of listening to the development concerns of its team. Therefore, encourage employees to be proactive with their individual training plan.
In this case, female participation in training actions for professional development is higher than male participation. We try to provide facilities for our colleagues who are pregnant and, therefore, we have incorporated unlimited teleworking for pregnant workers from week 30 or week 26 in the case of multiple gestation. We have work flexibility in arrival and departure times to facilitate work-life balance. In addition, we offer permission to attend children’s school events and teleworking when a child is sick.
Gender equality is essential for the social sphere, but also for the business and institutional sphere. For this reason, in 2020 the “Incorpora” project was launched, with the aim of achieving greater gender balance at all levels of the organization, which has resulted in 60% of the team now being female. .
What benefits do you think it brings to the company?
By carrying out these actions, our company transmits its real commitment to social responsibility and becomes an attractive company for talent and, consequently, builds their loyalty. Demonstrating with facts that we are a company committed to equality helps employees feel more comfortable and happy with their jobs, increasing team motivation and productivity. And of course, it improves the work environment.
How has the staff been involved?
Our philosophy is that both women and men obtain the same opportunities, the same rights, the same treatment and the same responsibilities. For us, it is essential that our talent is aligned with this philosophy and that is why during the selection processes we try to identify that the professionals are aligned with the company’s values. We can say that our team is and, therefore, the involvement arises naturally. The staff shows with behaviors and actions their commitment to equality measures through respect and example.
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