Aurali González
Ivonne Narváez
Luis Alberto Cordova Galindo
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM)
Lilia Patricia López
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QueBonito is the first company in Michoacán, Mexico that inspires you to believe that the change towards a better planet depends on each one of us. On several occasions, the wrapping or packaging of the products we consume is considered insignificant, since most of the time we use it for less than a minute and we throw it away. Nevertheless, it is a bad habit and now it is essential to raise awareness about the energy, resources, environmental impact, and other factors that interfere to produce that packaging.
This business is concerned about the environment and conscious and sustainable production and consumption. It is dedicated to creating the best solutions for the design and manufacture of responsible packaging, focusing on the production of various packaging lines to give its customers the best option to present their products. It is an innovative initiative that is concerned with the reduction and elimination of polluting and harmful materials to the environment, so they aim to create environmental awareness in consumers and producers .
QueBonito is an eco-conscious packaging design and manufacturing company that firmly believes that a great product image is essential for the competitive world we live in. The innovation consists of offering packaging with biodegradable and eco-friendly materials to encourage producers and consumers to change their habits in the use of packaging, as well as offering unique and avant-garde designs. In addition, part of the innovation is in the business model, as it focuses on responsible waste management.
This idea was born due to the lack of variety in packaging options, mainly for bakery products, since those offered in the market were made of highly polluting plastics that take more than a hundred years to degrade, in addition to the fact that the design was monotonous and traditional. Because of the need to reduce the ecological footprint, QueBonito sought to develop a solution through the creation of packaging that was not only biodegradable but also with an innovative and different design.
The business innovation idea was created by a family that detected the need to reinvent the packaging industry in Mexico. The members of the family have different professional profiles, which allowed them to enrich and undertake the idea, as well as design-specific tasks for each member such as product design, operations, finance, and strategic development. The family began to develop the idea in 2013. Four years later, they went to a business incubator, achieving exponential growth, leading them now to increase their production and sales volume.
We had the opportunity to interview Luis Enrique Córdova, one of the founders of the company. “Our innovation has a mission to become a business model that can be replicated throughout Mexico and other countries”, Luis Enrique stated. QueBonito, beyond producing fashionable and biodegradable packaging, wants to create a community aware of recycling this type of material, because it is something we use daily in all the products we consume, generating a large amount of garbage.
To achieve its mission, QueBonito uses recycled products (pet, cardboard, paper) in most of its packaging, however, the virgin materials they handle are recyclable and biodegradable (they degrade in a maximum of one year). In addition, the company organizes environmental awareness campaigns among its customers.
According to Luis Enrique, “QueBonito was born from the low offer in design and materials in ecological packaging”. Initially, its products were directed to the bakery industry but now they have designs for various types of products and materials. The Cordova family observed this situation, detected a great area of opportunity, and decided to make different models to see their acceptance in the market. They pointed out that what consumers really demanded was avant-garde and at the same time ecological models.
The main motivation for doing the innovation was that many people were increasingly interested in reducing their ecological footprint, as well as becoming more responsible consumers. Therefore, over time the awareness of consumers who are looking for products with less impact on the environment has increased. In addition, people have begun to value companies that have sustainable approaches and environmentally friendly processes. For these reasons, the Cordova family sought to develop a business model that went beyond the generation of profits, their purpose from the beginning has been to change the misuse and waste of products in this sector. “The name of the company arose because at the beginning when we started to show our products to the people, everyone said: ¡Que Bonito!”, Luis Enrique mentioned.
The impact of innovation on the business is high because by setting fashion and trend in packaging design as well as offering ecological materials, it managed to create a high differentiator since competitors in this sector had not reinvented or implemented changes in this type of packaging. Therefore, the consumer has sufficient elements to identify QueBonito in the market, distinguishing itself by having unique and original characteristics in all the packaging offered.
In addition, QueBonito has managed to generate an impact in the community because through its business model it is possible to transmit and demonstrate that as consumers we can change and adapt our practices to become more responsible (reduction of single-use plastics). For this reason, the company has generated a change of conscience in each one of its clients.
As it was already mentioned, QueBonito is a company that has managed to have a very positive impact on the environment, society, customers, and all stakeholders, due to the use of friendly raw materials and responsible waste management. The business began to operate in the city of Morelia, nevertheless, at the moment they have clients in different parts of the country and they are planning to export to other countries in the next few years.
The impact that the company had in the short term was the generation of awareness in the consumers about ecological issues, the offer of innovative and different designs compared to traditional packaging, as well as the facility given to the customer to personalize their brands in reachable volumes.
On the other hand, in the long term, QueBonito has the vision to be a leading company at a national level and with an international presence in the design and manufacture of ecological packaging for diverse uses, being committed at all times to the care of the environment and determined to use raw materials that favor the care of the same. “Additionally, we plan to be recognized for collaborating in social projects”, Luis Enrique emphasized. In 2020, the company carried out some initiatives such as: “QueBonito Bosque” and “QueBonito reforestamos” to benefit society and the planet.
The main benefit that QueBonito obtained as a business by implementing this innovation in packaging was the great acceptance of the market because there are more and more consumers who tend to seek responsible consumption. QueBonito could and will continue to increase its positioning in this sector because having a sustainable approach and original designs give them a great advantage over their competitors.
Que Bonito started to manufacture last year a product that has become the star of the company, “Mailbox” is the name that they gave to this line of different size boxes that are made specifically for e-commerce shipping, affordable for many customers that are sending products all around the country, are made of recycled cardboard and new sizes of the product have been developed this year to help their customers fit their products better for a safe shipping environment.
In addition, with this business model, QueBonito adopts and complies with objective number 12 of the UN: Responsible consumption and production.
As it has been mentioned before, QueBonito is a Mexican company that not only focuses on offering packaging with innovative and unique designs but also cares about the environment and the welfare of society. Through its mission, initiatives, and actions, the company has managed to transmit the message that it’s very simple to take care of the planet, it is only necessary to raise awareness and begin to change our consumption habits. The main environmental benefit generated by the company is the use of friendly raw materials and responsible waste management. Even though most of their products are recycled, the few virgin materials they use are biodegradable and recyclable. On the other hand, the main benefit for society is having an environmentally friendly packaging option for their products, as well as being able to reduce their ecological footprint.
Que Bonito is also a company with a special commitment to recover the resources that they know one of their raw materials come from Trees. They started this year a campaign called “Que Bonita Reforestación”, they looked for a specialist in reforest and found a strategic ally for this purpose, a company with a lot of space to reforest at the south of the municipality of Morelia, there’s an ecological development called “Rancho Ecológico La Planta”, they helped Que Bonito crew to have an efficient reforest with the correct trees in a place where is more suitable for trees to grow healthy and have care over time once the reforest made successfully.
The company invited their staff and their families to have the first reforest event to raise awareness about the importance of trees for humankind and will continue making campaigns every year hopefully, adding more people to this practice, including customers and social media community followers. They said these actions made by few people at least once a year help the environment in the recovery of their resources and is very important to get more people in this mood so we can have a bigger positive impact on our forests.
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Luis Enrique Córdova Galindo, QueBonito Interview
QueBonito is an eco-conscious packaging design and manufacturing company, located in the city of Morelia Michoacan. It was created by a family that detected the need to reinvent the packaging industry in Mexico.