The Mexican company Gruma reported that its investments in the first quarter of the year totaled $ 26 million.

During the quarter, its capital expenditures were mainly allocated to the following projects: capacity increase for tortilla in the United Kingdom; capacity increase at the Dallas tortilla plant; expansion of the tortilla plant in Spain, and maintenance and technological improvements across the board.

Gruma’s strategy is to focus on its core businesses: corn flour and tortilla, as well as expand its product portfolio towards the flatbread category in general. The company continues to take advantage of the growing popularity of Mexican food and, more importantly, tortilla in the markets of the United States, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

It also continues to take advantage of the adoption of tortillas by consumers in various regions of the world for the preparation of recipes or dishes not related to Mexican food.

Investments between 2016 and 2018 were $ 319 million, mainly for capacity expansions and general improvements in production and technology.

During this period, an tortilla plant was built in Dallas, Texas, and the production capacity of the tortilla plant in Lakeland, Florida, and the corn flour plant in Evansville, Indiana, among other projects, was increased.

Gruma: business profile

Founded in 1949, the company is one of the largest producers of corn flour and tortillas in the world and owns leading brands in most of its markets.

The company has its corporate offices in San Pedro Garza García, Mexico, and has around 21,000 employees and 73 plants. In 2019, the company achieved net sales of approximately 4.1 billion, of which 73% came from operations outside of Mexico.

Financial results

On a consolidated level, sales volume rose 6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, mainly due to the 9% growth in Gruma United States, but also the strong growth in all other operations, with the exception of China.

Net sales increased 16%, primarily due to a 13% increase in Gruma United States, 8% in GIMSA, 13% in Gruma Central America and 5% in Gruma Europe, in addition to the weakness of the Mexican peso, which benefited the operations of Gruma abroad when measuring the figures in terms of pesos. Sales from operations outside of Mexico represented 75% of consolidated results.