São Salvador Alimentos (SSA), with factories in Itaberaí and Nova Veneza (GO), has increased production to meet the increase in demand for food in Brazil during the quarantine period imposed by most Brazilian states and the Federal District as a measure to combat the spread of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) in the country. Despite the increase in costs, mainly due to inputs, the company has not passed them on and has maintained its prices.
“Our inputs are more expensive, with increased consumption and the dollar’s quotation. But we were able to anticipate the purchase of inputs, storing as much as possible, which has guaranteed our production to meet the increase in demand in the domestic and foreign markets. We sold everything we produced, without any price increase, to ensure supply to consumers with quality products from the SuperFrango and Boua brands,” said CEO José Garrote. With about 8,000 employees, SSA serves more than 25,000 customers (wholesalers, supermarkets, etc.) in the country and exports to 66 countries.
SSA prepared for the new coronavirus crisis. “China is one of our main markets. We followed everything that happened there, knowing that it could also happen in Brazil. We implemented this management philosophy in the company, to anticipate potential crises. We learned a lot from the truck drivers’ strike in 2018, which affected our business, especially in the supply and distribution chain,” said José Garrote.
“The start of operations of the industrial plant in Nova Veneza, in March of this year, marks a new phase for SSA, which started its production in March 1991 with an average slaughter of 2,500 chickens per month. In these 29 years, we have never stopped growing, each year surpassing the previous one. Our policy has always been to invest in the growth of production and sales. In 2019, we grew 35% compared to the previous year. With the new investments, we will jump to a capacity exceeding 500,000 birds per day in the next three years,” emphasizes José Garrote.
More than 30% of the company’s production is destined for 66 countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, mainly. The investments made will allow SSA to reach a high level of operational efficiency, with a significant increase in its productivity and industrialization, and to expand its product mix with higher added value of the SuperFrango and Boua brands to the national and foreign markets.
SSA employed around 7,500 workers, including direct and indirect outsourced employees, until last year. With the new Nova Veneza plant, this figure will exceed 8,500 direct jobs by 2022. Only in the new factory, there will be 1,100 direct jobs and more than 10,300 indirect jobs in the long chain formed by integrated, outsourced, suppliers, etc. “We invested heavily in training and capacity building of our employees and in new production technologies and industrial processes,” says José Garrote.
