What challenge(s) do our clients face?
The food industry is characterized by variation, and different factors have to be considered depending on which categories, channels, and geographies you play in
The food industry is so heterogeneous by nature, it is almost too simplistic to refer to it as one industry – characterized by a huge number of categories and consumption habits, which vary widely across and even within individual markets. On top of this highly variable foundation, food products are sold through a multitude of channels, with different length value chains occupied by players ranging from international conglomerates to neighborhood producers. The complexity generated by the almost infinite number of scenarios means that in any case, a player needs to understand their competitive environment in-depth in order to find and sustain success, considering the challenges that are native to different products or channels:
How do we help?
Our experience across the entire value chain combined with your knowledge of your business enables us to support challenges of every combination and context
Integration’s greatest support to our clients often comes from helping you to understand your own unique situation in-depth and identify which success factors are at play, considering the characteristics of your particular combination of categories, channels, and geographies.
We have a solid track record of supporting food manufacturers with projects delivered in more than 20 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, on local, regional, and global levels. From our hands-on approach, we have developed experience in understanding how cultural and socio-economic factors influence consumption behaviors from one place to another – helping us support our clients to understand the different variables that may be driving consumer behavior. Likewise, having worked across the entire ecosystem of players from farm to plate, we know the different challenges that are typically faced along the value chain and can bring a variety of perspectives to develop solutions that work, whatever angle you view them from.
Commonly applied services
Clients
We have worked with clients in different categories, geographies and positions along the value chain:
SUCCESS STORIES
CHALLENGE
Our client, a Brazilian multinational protein producer, was facing regulatory changes in its leading international market. These changes would result in sudden exportation restrictions, and the business needed to reorganize accordingly. Integration was asked to support the identification and implementation of cost reduction opportunities, through process standardization and efficiency gains.
APPROACH
Our approach was to map the organizational structure and processes across decentralized operations, including factories, warehouses, and sales back-office, identify standardization opportunities, and redesign according to the client’s adjusted needs. Beyond the initial project scope, we worked together with the client to define a complete implementation plan aligned with a factories layoff roadmap, which was being developed simultaneously.
RESULT
The project enabled the capture of ~USD$45 million in structure reduction opportunities and ~USD$15 million cost reduction in remuneration policy homogenization.
CHALLENGE
A Brazilian biscuit and cookies manufacturer needed to re-evaluate their production and logistic footprint, having revised their Go-to-Market strategy and opened a new factory. In this new context, in which the balance between direct and indirect channels had been impacted, the organization sought Integration’s help to optimize their production and logistical strategy.
APPROACH
We approached the project in a holistic way, analyzing the end to end costs (raw material, transportation, storage, production, distribution, end customer, taxes) and leveraging our cross-area knowledge to involve and engage people from the whole company, from procurement to customer service. From mapping the value chain and understanding the as-is costs, we used the 5-year forecast to simulate multiple investment scenarios to optimize operating costs at different levels of risk. Throughout the project, we actively considered sustainability, analyzing the impact of all strategic choices on carbon footprint.
RESULT
We built clear action plans with the client which delivered up to 5% of accumulated cost savings over the next 5 years, supported by a detailed implementation roadmap covering production footprint, distribution and GTM expansion.
CHALLENGE
A food start-up created exclusively for the development of a plant-based hamburger sought our support to define if and how to launch, in a country in which this category did not exist.
APPROACH
Our first step was to understand how this new market would evolve, based on international references and consumer surveys. Through identifying the target consumer segment, substitutes, and categories with potential synergies and cross-activation, we could simulate growth and build a robust business case for a “go” decision. Following this, we worked with the client to define the complete entry strategy, including the phasing plan per region and channel. We simulated topline projections per client, defined a client top priority list, and a complete financial simulation, including the marketing budget.
RESULT
The client is currently on track with the most aggressive growth scenario simulated. A year after this project, Integration was invited back to the client to support prioritizing further markets and defining entry models.
TALK TO US
André Valente
André Valente is a partner at Integration and a leader within the Marketing & Sales Practice. With nearly two decades of experience supporting clients across diverse sectors and geographies, André is a specialist in the topics of innovation management, digital and data solutions, go-to-market models, market-entry strategies and global marketing approaches.
Carlos Lima
Carlos Lima is the president of Integration and a founding partner. Carlos has worked with leading international companies across the globe as a consultant for the last 30 years and has developed a particular specialization in Marketing and Sales. He is considered an expert in the Consumer Goods sector and on the topics of Commercial [...]
Guido Solari
Guido Solari is a partner at Integration and the head of our LATAM offices. Guido joined the company in 2006 and is part of the Marketing & Sales Practice. He has carried out over 250 projects across Latin America, North America and Europe, serving clients in the areas of mass consumer goods, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, media [...]
Hugo Ribeiro
Hugo Ribeiro is a founding partner at Integration and can count on more than 30 years of experience in consulting. Hugo, who holds a post-graduate degree in Business Administration from Harvard University, is a senior specialist in the area of Finance & Management and frequently leads projects in Organizational Structure, Strategic Planning, M&A, Improvement of [...]
Ian Matiussi
Ian Matiussi is a director and joined Integration in 2010 and now has over a decade of experience, working in our Marketing & Sales Practice. Comfortable with a wide range of topics in this area, he is especially known for his expertise in strategic marketing initiatives such as Market Scans, Go-to-Market and Commercial Policy. His [...]
João Barros
João Barros is a partner at Integration and has been working since 2006 in our Supply Chain practice. During this period, he been instrumental to the practice's development in Integration's 7 offices around the world, contributing directly to its numerous awards in Brazil. He has led, and continues to lead on numerous projects in Planning, [...]
Jorge Gomes
Jorge Gomes is a senior director and a highly experienced professional in our Finance & Management practice having joined Integration in 2008. Jorge has travelled to countries around the world in support of our clients, leading projects related to revenue management, strategic planning, M&A and more. He has a well-rounded experience having completed multiple projects [...]
Lucas Tavolaro
Lucas Tavolaro is a senior director at Integration and has been working in the Finance & Management Practice since 2011. He has supported our clients in the creation Strategic Roadmaps, M&A synergy evaluations, Go-to-Market strategies, Cost Efficiency and Strategic Sourcing projects. His experience includes sectors such as Consumer Goods, Construction & Property Development, Education, Private [...]
Luis Bernal
Luis Bernal is a director in the Marketing & Sales Practice. Originally from Columbia, Luis is an entrepreneur at heart, and has worked in several start-ups in Colombia, receiving his MBA from IPADE. He has accumulated international consulting experience whilst working across the United States, Mexico, Caribbean and Central America, Colombia and Brazil in industries [...]
Luis C Vidal
Luis C Vidal is a partner at Integration where, since 1999, he has been working in the Supply Chain practice. During this period, he has led projects in the most diverse sectors and in themes such as Logistic Optimizations, Process Efficiency, Planning (S&OP), Industrial Strategy, Go-to-Market Strategy and Distribution Structure. His international experience encompasses the [...]
Roger Saltiel
Roger Saltiel is a partner at Integration and has been working since 2002 in the Marketing & Sales practice. Considered an authority in the Indirect Channel and Partner Relationship Management (PRM), he is a member of the Associação Brasileira de Atacadistas e Distribuidores (ABAD) [Brazilian Association of Wholesalers and Distributors], working in the leadership of [...]
Vinicius Olivo
Vinicius Olivo is a director and brings a broad and deep understanding of our Marketing & Sales solutions since having joined Integration in 2011. He supported leading national and international organizations in Retail and Consumer Goods in building sustainable competitive advantage. His project experience ranges from Go-to-Market models, Market Scans, Customer Segmentation, Category Management and [...]