Grupo Bimbo Visa agreement to boost Mexican business
Grupo Bimbo’s technology provider subsidiary Blue Label Mexico has struck a partnership with Visa to expand the acceptance of credit and debit card payments across Mexico. It says the move should give a boost to it’s vast Mexican retail network, comprised of more than 700,000 small retailers.
Grupo Bimbo said the Visa partnership creates an opportunity to support local stores to modernize and compete effectively.
“We see ‘mom & pop’ stores as the core of the retail culture in Mexico; they are not only the social center for many communities, but also a key driver of the country’s economic growth,” said Hortensia Contreras, vice president of strategic services at Grupo Bimbo and CEO of Blue Label Mexico.
“This innovation of enabling ‘mom & pop’ stores to accept payment cards will deepen penetration of electronic payments while helping to boost traffic and ultimately increase turnover of these stores,” she said.
Bimbo and Visa say they will develop continuous training initiatives to help small retailers develop their business and finances.
Home market boost
Mexico – Bimbo’s home market – has been one area where the bread major has struggled to secure growth over the past few years.
Earlier this year, Bimbo’s CEO Daniel Servitje said that growth has not been what was expected in Mexico but it was a market the company is optimistic about.
In an August Q2 earnings call, he said: “We’re doing as much as we can to increase our revenues here in Mexico, but the market is not in very high mode.”
However, Bimbo did report a net sales increase of 5.2% in Mexico for its third quarter (Q3) earnings earlier this month. The rise came amid a very healthy overall quarter for the bread company where net income quadrupled for the quarter.
