The multinational Essity acquired control of the company that emerged in Colombia a few weeks ago and has been present in the country for more than 25 years.
Injecting into Grupo Familia high doses of innovation and sustainability, with investment plans in technology for digital transformation, and the strengthening of its brands of personal, family and corporate hygiene products are the benefits that the purchase of most of its shares by the Swedish multinational Essity.
This is explained by Andrés Gómez, general manager of Grupo Familia, which emerged in Colombia more than 60 years ago and has been present in Ecuador for more than 25.
Essity acquired control of the company a few weeks ago. Originally it had 50% of the shares, now it has 95.8% in an operation that amounted to more than $ 1,500 million, as indicated in a statement from the organization.
According to the magazine Forbes, the multinational operates in all the countries of the region, except Venezuela, which represents 13% of its total sales today, as well as an annual growth that ranges between 5% and 10%. In the case of Grupo Familia, it covers 6% of its businesses worldwide, a figure that represents half of its activity in Latin America.
Gómez points out that this “long-term commitment” of both companies will favor consumers in the 150 countries of the world in which they have a presence, including Ecuador, where new products and new sustainable practices have already been introduced in recent years. “Reading the transformations of the consumer and the market.”
For example, says the executive, serving women seeking more environmentally friendly intimate hygiene products, the company recently launched several of the Nosotras brand made with organic cotton; Likewise, it presented the Familia Green line, which is manufactured from recycled material and then the brand delivers a percentage of sales to recyclers; and it is also developing plastic-free products in the Pequeñín baby line..
Although it does not give figures on its future investments or its growth prospects in the country, Gómez emphasizes that, after the vaccination campaign promoted by the Government of Guillermo Lasso, there are already signs of reactivation in all sectors. And this is good for your business.
The Family manager says that, in the days before the confinement decreed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the sales of their products grew in an unusual way because people stocked up on them; But when people were locked up, there was a contraction in demand for, for example, soft papers and absorbent diapers for the elderly, as consumption habits changed.
“It was a challenge for the company and its supply and supplier networks that our portfolio was always available,” says Gómez, who highlights that digital sales channels had growth of over 30% or 35% due to the pandemic.
“We had already been working rapidly on the development of platforms to bring our products directly to families,” he says.
The executive says that, currently, 5% of the sales of the entire company are carried out in this way. The expectation is to reach 10% in about ten years.
According to the Superintendency of Companies, in 2020 Familia Ecuador had sales income of $ 99.4 million and paid $ 16.5 million for income tax (IR).
Details
* Grupo Familia arrived in Ecuador at the end of the 90s, when it acquired the Tecnopapel company, located in Latacunga, Cotopaxi, and in 2018 it bought another in Babahoyo, Los Ríos.
* Its main brands are Familia, Pequeñín, Petys, Nosotras, Pomys, TENA and Familia Institucional.
* Essity’s net sales in 2020 amounted to € 11.6 billion. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
