Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón and president and CEO of Grupo Bimbo Daniel Servitje, along with other officials attended the opening ceremony on Tuesday to commemorate the completion of the baking facility that took a year to build.
The facility – the second plant in the city of Tenjo – will have an hourly capacity to produce eight tons of hamburger buns, snacks and puff pastry products (new for the Colombian company).
"The Tenjo II plant is already making Grupo Bimbo very proud and our commitment is to continue working every day to fulfil the purpose stated in our philosophy: to build a sustainable, highly productive and fully humane company."
According to Fernando López, president of Bimbo Colombia, the latter is expected to contribute a major percentage to the 2017 sales of the company.
Job creation
He also said the centre, called Tenjo II, will immediately generate 270 new jobs, which could rise to 350.
This is in addition to the 3,800 people already employed by the company in Colombia. He believed the new location could also lead to 1,700 indirect jobs.
The company opened its first facility in the town in 1996.
López noted the close proximity of the two bakeries will improve logistics, create synergies and boost Bimbo’s distribution capabilities in a country where transportation is often difficult.
Source of pride
Servitjie, head of parent company Grupo Bimbo, said the Tenjo II plant is already a source of pride for the Mexican company, as it will firmly expand the company’s footprint in the South American country.
Grupo Bimbo is one of the biggest companies in Mexico and has operations in 24 countries across the globe. The company has controlled the Sara Lee brand since acquiring the rights for almost $1bn in 2010 and produces WonderBread in Mexico, among other brands.
Bimbo Colombia has three strategic business units: Family Baked Products, Sweet Baked Products and Solutions, that experienced a double-digit growth in 2016. That same year, the company started making inroads into the frozen bread segment with the acquisition of the Panettiere company.
Grupo Bimbo invests $129.3m in distribution centre in Mexico
Last week, Grupo Bimbo held a groundbreaking ceremony to built its 2.3bn ($129.3m) distribution center in Mexico City.
The facility, located in the Azcapotzalco District, is expected to be the largest and most modern distribution center of the baking industry in the Americas and will increase the logistics capacity and enhance distribution efficiency for Grupo Bimbo.
The company said the facility will include inventory control and automation technology to supply sales centers and routes serving more than 200,000 customers.
The centre is expected to create 350 direct and 1,700 indirect jobs.