Addiel Amaro
Oralia Garcia
CECILIA TOLOSA OSUNA
Ana Garcia Jaidar
Ana García
EGADE Business School Tecnologico de Monterrey
Consuelo Garcia-de-la-torre
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Since 2015 Sigma has generated actions to contribute to the care of the planet, the company launched the 2025 Sustainability Goals aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They have worked on various energy efficiency projects and increasing energy consumption from cleaner sources, one of these projects was developed in Mexico with the vision to use only Wind Energy to supply its operations in a near future.
The company's focus over the past decade has been on the promotion of sustainable development, which has led them to invest more than US$120 million in initiatives related to the Global Sustainability Strategy. Sigma intends to continue expanding this positive impact through their 4 action pillars: Environment, Wellbeing, Health & Nutrition, and Shared Value.
In the year 2015 under the Environment pillar, the Mexico business unit started a project lead by the sustainability department switch to the use of clean energy across its supply chain. They started the first stage with a ZERO emission wind park in one city of Tamaulipas, Mexico and another one in Veracruz, Mexico, which provided energy to seventeen production facilities. In the present year they have signed a new contract with a wind park located in Altamira, Mexico what allows the company to use clean energy in 80% of its industrial and services facilities in the country.
Wind farm in Altamira
In the year 2015 Sigma established a line of action to reach a 67% of “Clean Energy” across its global operations by the year 2025, which motivated the Mexico subsidiary to develop a project in wind energy. The main drivers of the project were to reduce the environmental impact of the company’s operations, to increase social responsibility, business profitability and efficiency (due to constant increase of energy cost in the country), and the compliance with local regulations (a recent change in the Mexican Law which states a target of 35% clean energy generation by the year 2024).
Finally what most inspired the sustainability team was to add value to the company demonstrating that the investment in this environmental project would have a positive economic impact in the future. They would position the name of the company as an environmental friendly and socially responsible leader which would help to have a better relationship with their stakeholders, and at the same time they would reduce operation cost.
The results of the project have gone beyond expectations, having a positive impact in the company, the environment and the society in Mexico. Sigma now is planning to replicate this project to other business units in Europe, Latin America and the USA. Regarding the team in Mexico they are now working on new projects to continue this sustainable transformation path for them to reach the company’s goals while making a positive impact in the world.
The 80% electric consumption of Sigma’s operation comes from a clean energy source, more especifictly from the Wind Energy Project they launched in the year 2015. This is a total of 83 sites which include 17 production facilities.
The project has also improved sustainability awareness within the company employees; they are dedicated to meet environmental standards and when possible exceeding them. The company obtained the certifications of Clean Industry, ISO 14001, ISO 50001, and AAI .
The total emission avoidance has been a total of 206,186 tons of CO2, equivalent to the electric consumption of 36,000 household or 27 billion smartphone charges, and the total clean energy supplied for the company reach an amount of 520 Gwh equivalent to what 250,000 Mexicans consume per year, all since the project was launched in the year 2015.
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Nemesio García Villarreal, Energy Manager
Armando Quintanilla, Sustainability Manager
Sigma is a Mexican multinational food processing and distribution company headquartered in San Pedro, near Monterrey, México. Sigma´s purpose is to bring communities everywhere favorite foods to love.
Sigma's history goes back to the 80's, when its subsidiary Alfa, entered the food market and acquired the Brener company with some of the main brands that are still in the portfolio. Alfa called this company Sigma Foods. In the 2000s Sigma expanded its participation to Central America, the Caribbean and the United States by acquiring leading companies in the refrigerated food market. In 2014, it acquired Campo Frio, a company with operations in Europe, consolidating it as a global company.
Within 18 countries, they offer quality branded food products at a wide range of price points and across diverse categories. The company is dedicated to the production, distribution and sales of refrigerated and frozen products such as cold meats, dry meats, cheese, yogurt, prepared meals and beverages.
Sigma has a strong diversified portfolio of well-positioned brands that market in several countries. It operates 69 production plants, 208 distribution centers and serves more than 590,000 customers in North, Central, South America, the Caribbean and Europe.