Grupo Bimbo, S.A.B. de C.V. (also known simply as Bimbo) is a Mexican multinational food company with a presence in over 33 countries located in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. It has an annual sales volume of 15 billion dollars and is listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange with the ticker BIMBO.
Grupo Bimbo has 134,000 employees, 196 bakery plants, 3 million points of sale, a distribution network with 57 thousand routes all over the world. The company has more than 100 brands and 13,000 products, like Bimbo, Tía Rosa, Entenmann's, Pullman, Rainbo, Nutrella, Marinela, Oroweat, Sara Lee, Thomas', Arnold and Barcel. Its strategic associations include Alicorp (Peru); Blue Label (Mexico); Fincomún, Galletas la Moderna, Grupo Nutresa (Colombia); Mundo Dulce (Argentina); among others.
Daniel Servitje has been Grupo Bimbo's CEO since 1997 and its chairman since 2013.
History
1945 – 1960
Grupo Bimbo began operations in Mexico City on December 2, 1945, with Panificación Bimbo, S.A. as the official name. The company started with 34 employees, selling cellophane-wrapped large and small white loaf bread, rye bread, and toast bread. Lorenzo Servitje Sendra, José T. Mata, Jaime Sendra Grimau, Jaime Jorba Sendra, and Alfonso Velasco, were the partners who started the bakery company.
The name "Bimbo" was chosen among other candidates such as PanRex, Pan NSE (initials in Spanish for Nutritious, Tasty, and Inexpensive), Sabrosoy, Pan Lirio, and Pan Azteca. The name was formed as the combination of the Bambi and Dumbo films, the favourite films of Marinela, Lorenzo Servitje's daughter. Later, the founders would find out that bimbo is an Italian slang for children (shortened from bambino), and that in China the phoneme for bread (面包/Miànbāo) is similar to the name of the brand.
The brand's ambassador, the Bimbo Bear, was also created in 1945. It was inspired by a bear drawing in a Christmas Card given to Jaime Jorba. Anita Mata, Jaime Sendra's wife, was the one who added distinct features such as the hat, the apron, and the bread under its arm.
By 1948, Grupo Bimbo had nine different products like white bread, toast bread, black bread, sweet bread, buns, and muffins. Thanks to the production growth, in 1949, the first branch outside of Mexico City was opened in Puebla, Mexico.
By the 1950s, Grupo Bimbo took its products to more people with the "38", a delivery truck with speakers that helped promote the products. Shortly afterward, the portfolio extended with the addition of Bimbo Bear Donuts, Bimbollos, Medias Noches (hot dog bread), and Colchones.
On its tenth anniversary, in 1955, Grupo Bimbo had 700 employees and 140 vehicles. In 1956, the company opened Bimbo de Occidente (Bimbo of the West) factory with Roberto Servitje as its general manager, and, in 1958, launched Gansito, a chocolate-covered snack cake filled with strawberry jam and cream.
1961 – 1980
In the 1960s, Grupo Bimbo kept expanding with its arrival in Monterrey, Mexico, and its first administrative restructuring in 1963, which lead to the creation of its corporate structure. A year later, in 1964, the company acquired the rights in Mexico of Quality Bakers of America's brand, Sunbeam.
In the 1970s, the company had significant growth in several areas. In 1971, Barcel, one of its most important brands, began operations; In 1972, it opened its bakery plant located in Azcapotzalco, Mexico City, the largest in Latin America and one of the ten largest in the world, at the time.
During this decade, Grupo Bimbo entered the marmalade market with Carmel (1973); inaugurated Suandy and Tía Rosa (1974), began the production of Conchas Bimbo (1975); and launched Ricolino, the company's leading sweets and chocolate brand, and Bubulubu with it (1978). By the end of the 1970s, Grupo Bimbo was formed by 3 companies, 12 plants, and 15,000 employees; during this time, Roberto Servitje was appointed CEO.
1981 – 2000
At the beginning of the 1980s, Grupo Bimbo presented relevant internal and external changes. It started quoting on the Mexican Stock Exchange, trading 15% of its shares, and in 1986 a new organizational structure was generated, from which a single industrial group was created. In these years, exports to the United States of America began (1984); Bimbo Centroamerica was created in 1989 with the construction of a plant in Guatemala, which was completed in 1990.