Better Foods Group Leads the Portuguese Sector

The Better Foods (BF) group is poised to ascend to the leadership of the Portuguese milling sector, expecting to close the year with a record turnover of nearly 200 million euros, as anticipated by the group’s administration.

Resulting from an alliance between two of the largest national milling operators, realized five years ago through the merger of the Ceres group with Germen, the new market leader has been reaping the rewards of the sustained growth strategy outlined then. To give practical expression to this, in recent years, over five million euros have been invested in industrial process efficiency and technology and innovation, maximizing synergies between the two partners.

Investments have also been made in renewing the rice and rye milling lines, which have allowed us to enhance industrial operations,” emphasizes Nuno Tavares, administrator of Better Foods, SA, the group’s holding company.

Additionally, there has been a reinforcement of response capacity in the finished product packaging lines, and “we have made modernization investments in storage and logistics areas,” he adds.

The BF group currently employs 275 people and includes seven companies, four of which are industrial, primarily dedicated to flour production. It is the only Iberian player with its own production of flours from the four cereals fundamental to the daily diet of the average Portuguese (wheat, corn, rice, and rye), also having a “gluten-free” production line.

The remaining three companies are focused on distribution and value-added services provided to the main clients of the BF group: the bakery and pastry industries.

In the last two years, aggregated turnover has increased from 131 million euros at the end of 2021 to 192 million euros last year, representing a sales increase of over 32%.

Given the context of the international economy and some decline in bread consumption in the domestic market, particularly that produced by traditional bakery industry, the administration does not expect turnover to continue to rise in double digits. However, as the fourth and final quarter of the year begins, it is estimated that sales and turnover will increase, with the year-end figures expected to be close to two hundred million euros by December 31.

The domestic market accounts for approximately 85% of direct sales, with Spain, Poland, the United Kingdom, Angola, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe being the six main destinations for products exported by BF companies.

GROUP TRANSFORMS 400 THOUSAND TONS OF CEREALS IN 2023

BF products are present in the daily lives of the Portuguese 24 hours a day. The mills of the group’s four industrial companies – Moagem Ceres, in Porto; Germen and Carneiro Campos, in Matosinhos; and Granel, in Vila Franca de Xira – approximately 400 thousand tons of cereals will be transformed by the end of the year. Most of the production will result in wheat flour for traditional baking and other branches of the national agri-food sector.

However, the group’s accounts also reflect the production of rye, rice, and corn flours. As a result of the investments made in R&D and technology, the BF group, through Germen, is now a relevant reference in the manufacture of low pesticide content (BTP) flours for infant food and gluten-free flours and food preparations.

Additionally, there is customized flour production for the main operators of the national food industry and special flours and corn semolina for the brewing and breakfast cereal industries. This is the core business of the century-old Carneiro Campos, located in Custóias, Matosinhos.

The BF portfolio also includes flours for domestic use, improvers and enriched flour mixtures for industrial use, as well as wheat and corn bran for animal consumption. With product families aimed at different sectors of the agri-food sector, Better Foods offers 11 brands: Amparo (premium line), Ceres, Eyra (gluten-free), Granel, Germen, Padeirinha, Pérola, Farifina, Carneiro Campos, Gergran, and Harinas Ceres.

In the main area of activity of the BF group, Moagem Ceres stands out, operating continuously for 108 years and a true icon in the urban landscape of the Porto parish of Campanhã. It is the national leader in the production of wheat flours and enriched mixtures for bakeries with its own manufacturing.

“The leadership position enjoyed by Ceres in the market is not new. It is a company that has been able to combine tradition with modernity and customer service. It is the only player in the sector with its own production of flours and derivatives from the four cereals present in the daily diet of most Portuguese: wheat, corn, rye, and rice. In addition to this, it is the largest national manufacturer of gluten-free flours. These are attributes that inspire confidence in the market and drive us to evolve and innovate,” emphasizes Nuno Tavares.

Further south, in Alverca, is Granel, the group’s first industrial response to the need for wheat flours for baking and other sectors of the agri-food sector in this region of the country.

WEBSITE ON “WORLD FOOD DAY” TO HIGHLIGHT LEADERSHIP

In the areas of logistics and distribution, we can find Montepan and Harinas Ceres. The first one is strategically located in Montemor-o-Velho, operates 24 hours a day and ensures timely supply of all Better Foods products in the mainland territory, being the main commercial arm of the group with its base of over 2000 clients.

The other company operates solely in Spain and has warehouses in Galicia and Andalusia, from where it sells the entire range of BF products in the neighboring country.

The group also includes Gergran, a 50/50 joint venture with the French cooperative group Vivescia, manufacturer of frozen bakery and pastry products under the Délifrance brand, which are distributed and marketed in Portugal by this company.

At the top of the BF group is the holding company that brings together the two shareholder universes, both of which are family-owned and which led the concentration operation launched in 2017, and consummated a year later with the merger of Moagem Ceres and Germen. Currently, 85% of the capital of Better Foods, SA belongs to the former owners of Ceres, MCFI, SGPS, with the remaining 15% owned by Ribatejana, Lda., which brings together the former shareholders of Germen.

It is this new organizational architecture and leadership position of the BF group that reflects the website that will be online next Monday, October 16, “World Food Day,” established in 1981 by the FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Also to mark the date and to project the integration of Moagem Ceres into the Better Foods group, there will be free bread distribution, of various types, at Campanhã railway station in Porto during Monday morning.

“Ceres has been in Campanhã since 1915 and has maintained a very old neighborhood relationship with the railway and trains, through which it received the cereals it processed,” emphasizes Nuno Tavares.

Therefore, the group decided to “draw the attention of railway enthusiasts to this strong and affectionate connection” on “World Food Day” and in the railway station itself, “so that those who start their day using the Campanhã station can enjoy the pleasurable experience of tasting excellent bread, made by the traditional Porto bakery with Better Foods products.”