“See to the pessimistic employers, and this is not just”
Interview to Héctor Fuentealba, Manufacturing Development Manager in Corporate Operations of Nestlé, in Switzerland
30 November 2011
After his talk in this day, deduce that it considers you that never invests too much in packaging…
In packaging it is necessary to invest, but well. It is necessary focalizar the efforts in the consumer, in being competitive and in giving fulfillment to the rule. Basically that was my message. Not investing neither spend in what no voucher.
For example…
In forms of waste like sobrestock, overproduction, ineficiencia… that is the type of things in which it does not be necessary to invest.
You has a very wide vision of the world of the packaging. At present it works in the head office of Nestlé, in Switzerland, where the economic situation is very different to the one of Spain and this has to give him one some distance…
But have a global vision with a lot of different realities.
Then, where it has to look for the opportunity that you speaks the Spanish employer?
In the quality and the efficiency. It is the only form to compete nowadays. It is necessary to be autoexigentes, does not suffice with being good, but excellent. This is what does the difference nowadays. Today we have a lot of offer of good products and so that it was worthwhile that we are in an activity, has to be excellent.
Have an example of my own experience: a lady with little economic income, that invested a significant quantity of his economic capacity, in an ours product, expensive. It treated of a tin of milk in dust of two kilos. Why? Because this container of hojalata, to her gave him guarantee of quality, of security… and because the product that she was buying was for his well lovelier, his grandson, or his son. When somebody has few resources to invest, can not allow the risk to make a mistake in the decision of purchase and, therefore, has to go to products that deliver him confidence.
Besides, it is convinced that a buyer, although his economic level do not arrive to the of the average, does not go to renounce to a product that need, and that in this has a very important paper so much the product, as his packaging…
For a company like Nestlé, that has a wide range of products and, like this, of materials, the future is in the biodegradable and the recyclable?
In all this. In the reduction of the environmental impact, that can be by the use of prime matters with renewable origin, by the lower use of prime matters, and by the use of prime matters that they are more recyclable or recoverable. The environmental impact it is necessary to measure it in all the dimensions, no only in a dimension.
The products sobreenvueltos that find in a supermarket would not go a priori in accordance with the environmental respect. The of the magdalena that goes in a bolsita of unit, that to his time goes on a plastic support with more units, that go in a box, that goes wrapped with plastic… it is necessary to be critical also in the world of the packaging or is just embalar so much?
It is necessary to be critical and ask if all this packaging is delivering him some value to the consumer or to the customer, or no.
It gives it to him?
No necessarily, even can that to some consumer bother him have to open so much packaging. It can be also that the individual container guarantee the freshness of the product and this is important for the consumer.
On the other hand, there is packaging that can not avoid, because it is delivering a value. A gift of Navidad, can deliver it without packaging? I can not, because it is generating part of the surprise, is part of the emotion.
Which is the greater value that has nowadays a packaging?
Has a fundamental paper in the value perceived of the product. When somebody buys a feather Montblanc, this comes with a box, with a special design, that has a cost, but that is showing me that the product has a value. During my conference have given an example, the clothes of the people. When we produce products is as when we dress to our children to go to the supermarket, to where can send them well or bad dresses. No always it is well save in the packaging, it is necessary to invest the necessary.
It has commented that Nestlé is opening quite his market in emergent countries, like China, the Indian or African countries where there is a sector of the population with low acquisitive power but that is increasing his capacity to access to determinate foods of quality. In this case, has explained that it does not treat so much to sell a product in big container, but in unidosis that perhaps yes can allow the citizen with less money...
Treats of megatendencias that can not modify. It is like this and, yes, we have to give an answer to this demand. For example, monodosis of Nescafé or chocolates to an affordable price but with the same attributes of quality of the standard containers.
And how give answer to the residue that this demand can generate in countries so populated?
What it is necessary to do is to measure the environmental impact of this plastic or this container in his complete cycle of life, and minimise this impact in all the dimensions. On the other hand, it is not totally true that the packaging was a big contaminante of the environment, on the contrary. The packaging protects the alimentary products and avoids that deterioren. In the years 30, the half of the production of the foods rotted in the fields before being transported because there was not the necessary container. This product in decomposition produced a quantity of CO2 that affects the environment. We can not look an alone dimension, but we have to look the complete impact, from the source of prime matters until the recycling.
It has finished his conference saying to the public, that here, in Spain, the of the packaging has not finished . It has said it because it perceives some negatividad between the employers?
Is that I see them pessimistic, and is not just. Besides, by the increase and concentration of the retail, the world of today is unthinkable without packaging. There is a Chinese proverb with this point of view: when there are threats, or defend us of them or take advantage of them.
