100 years of innovation
COMPLETING A CENTURY OF EXISTENCE, CORPORACIÓN MULTI INVERSIONES (CMI) PREPARES THE EXPANSION OF POLLO CAMPERO USA, AS WELL AS THE GROWTH IN THE FOOD AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY MARKETS OF THE ANDEAN REGION AND THE CARIBBEAN.
A century ago, Don Juan Bautista Gutiérrez opened a small store in the municipality of San Cristóbal, Totonicapán, in Guatemala. In the following decades, he founded several businesses until he created Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI), a company that today has a presence in 15 countries and, in the future, plans to continue its expansion into the Andean region and the Caribbean.
The challenge is to do so without losing its essence as a family business and contributing to the competitiveness and sustainable development of the region, as well as that of the areas in which it operates, both in food-related businesses, as well as in real estate and energy projects.
This company, led by the third generation, has grown at an annual rate of 10% in the last 40 years and currently has more than 40,000 employees in locations such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Ecuador, the United States, Spain and Italy.
Through its two business groups (CMI Foods and CMI Capital), it has wheat flour mills, pasta and cracker production; poultry and pork production, as well as processed and sausage manufacturing; balanced food for animals and pets; and restaurants such as the emblematic Pollo Campero.
It also has renewable energy generation projects, real estate developments, and financial service businesses.
To a large extent, the success formula of this century-old company lies in its ability to innovate, but also in its ability to adapt to new markets, because as part of a trial-and-error process it has learned that it cannot simply replicate its products in different markets.
“At CMI we are convinced that the only constant is change, so the permanent search for new opportunities, promotion of entrepreneurship and flexibility to adapt, which were the outstanding characteristics of our founder, have allowed us to transform businesses in a timely manner, always taking advantage of our experience in the markets where we operate, but addressing the needs of a global world with new requirements at every moment ”, explains Juan José Gutiérrez Mayorga, president and chairman of CMI Alimentos.
In fact, this company has used technology to be closer to the customer and understand their needs, something that companies often forget to the extent that they believe they are better positioned.
“We are clear that it is not about spending millions to innovate, it is enough to make better use of the tools you have, change the way of doing things, improve processes and product presentation. Focus on what we have to gain by making the changes and not what we have to lose,” argues Gutiérrez Mayorga.
Despite the fact that today it is a multi-Latin Corporation, the directors of the company know that they must retain its essence. In this sense, their mission is to preserving values such as responsibility, excellence, integrity and respect.
“This governance system, whose heart is in our corporate office, focuses on ensuring that each of our businesses prioritizes building its presence in the market, but always with the same family essence that has characterized us for 100 years”, states Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez, chairman of CMI Capital.
For this reason, it is important for managers to constantly search for new opportunities: “But above all, opportunities that promote better living conditions for the societies where we operate, and thus contribute to their sustainable development; seek to transform these societies integrally into more inclusive and accessible models for all, and especially to have good teams”, he points out.
