Spanish Federation of Food and Drink Industries (FIAB), Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism (MINETUR), and Banco Santander, as a strategic partner, have launched a Business Growth Programme with the aim of improving the capacity for growth and Spanish competitiveness of SMEs in the food and beverage industry. In all, 23 of 18 Spanish provinces SMEs will receive personalized advice on financing, human resources, internationalization, digitization, innovation and operations. The program will be focused on the meat, olive oil, dairy, sweets and coffee.
This action is part of the scope for support for small and medium enterprises, part one of the areas of work in the new strategy of FIAB, including within the objectives of the Strategic Framework for Food and Beverage Industry.
Increase business dimension
A larger in companies directly benefits their competitiveness both domestically and in the global market in which they operate, to its internationalization strategy, its innovative and productive capacity, and access to financing companies.
Spanish food and beverage industry has a fragmented structure, where 96% of companies have fewer than 50 employees, while nearly 4% have between 50 and 500 workers.
Aware of the role of SMEs in our economy, and the specific difficulties faced by smaller companies to access funding sources, innovation and internationalization, the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism collects in Agenda Strengthening the Industrial Sector of Spain, a series of measures to support growth and professionalization of Spanish SMEs. The project presented today is part of that strategy.
The IAB, Business Growth Pilot Program
The program aims to provide 23 SMEs in the sector a chance to grow and increase their competitiveness through a personalized diagnosis of their strengths and needs, and developing a strategic plan for growth.
The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, through the General Secretariat of Industry and SMEs, has been selected as pilot area for food and beverage industry, being the first industrial sector of the country and a major economic lever in Spain which has doubled its level of activity in the last decade from 13.7% to 22.5% of the manufacturing industry and currently employs over 20% of industrial employment.
It is, therefore, a key industry of Spain and a powerful exporter, exported 25,000 million euros in 2014, 10% of total sales abroad of Spain sector.
The Business Growth Pilot Program seeks to support SMEs that have the potential and desire to grow, identifying barriers to growth and offering personalized advice tailored to the needs of each company.
Through specialized professionals, the company can identify the steps needed to grow stably and steadily, designing a growth strategy, identifying sources of financing and investment, discovering their innovative capacity and improving the skills of its workforce.
After a thorough assessment of the current state of the company, the consultant team will develop a business plan and professional advice to each SME will be offered in six areas: finance, human resources, internationalization, digitization, innovation and operations. Each company will get a personalized plan for improvement in selected areas, with concrete actions to implement.
FIAB has been responsible for coordinating the selection of SMEs benefiting from the program, companies with growth potential belonging to the meat, olive sectors, dairy, sweets and coffee, in 18 Spanish provinces.
Banco Santander will support SMEs in the development of their financial knowledge through specialized teams in each territory. It also will serve selected entity tools to help companies internationalization and digitization.
The advice in the remaining five areas will be provided by the General Secretariat of Industry and SMEs through the School of Industrial Organization under the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism.
The pilot program is offered free of charge to the 23 selected companies.
Source: FIAB
