OUR BUSINESS MODEL

The Viscofan Group has a business model with a technological and geographical proposal that is unique in the market, based on the solid shared values of a team, aimed at creating value in a sustainable manner for all our stakeholders.

As a result of this model, Viscofan is the leader on the customized casing market.

Mission, vision and values

KEY FIGURES

FINANCIAL 2020

ENVIRONMENTAL

SOCIAL

GOVERNANCE

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

Viscofan’s progress is viewed from the perspective of achieving sustainable competitive advantages, which are the result of the work and commitment of an exceptional team that has offered the best of each individual for over 45 years, making Viscofan the leader in the sector.

R+D and innovation

Viscofan’s position in the constantlyevolving, highly competitive world market is sustained by cutting-edge efforts in research, development and investigation of its technology and products. Only through the application of this philosophy will the company be able to continue advancing in its leadership of innovation in the global customized casings market, benefiting all of its stakeholders.

Constant innovation required by our globalised world must be taken into account. Our products must be compatible and adapt to the food habits and uses of millions of world consumers, their preferences and evolution over time. Viscofan couples its growth as a business with the development of its innovation capability so that it can access the best technologies available on the market, implement them and improve them, and develop its own technologies to create a sustainable competitive edge.

The manufacturing of casing is characterised by its ease of use and appearance, which contrasts with the high technological component underlying the manufacturing process and which only a few companies worldwide have developed.

The food industry and, more specifically, the cold meat production sector, increasingly demands more products with greater features, more sustainable and at highly competitive costs, in order to enable their large-scale manufacture. Providing a response to this demand implies an enormous technological and developmental challenge that is successfully met by Viscofan as the largest casing producer, and it is the only company in the industry that provides solutions in the main four casing families (cellulose, collagen, fibrous and plastic) and in other new families, such as edible vegetable and functional casings.

RAW MATERIALS

High purity cellulose, collagen hides, abaca paper, plastic polymer, etc… depending on the casing type

EXTRUSION

Raw materials are extruded in a seamless tube thanks to a mechanical and chemical process, and subsequently are rolled into bovines (flat casing)

CONVERTING

The flat casing is converted into a stick that adapts better to the process of our customers.

COMMERCIAL

Viscofan has a global network of distributors, and technical assistance team

FOOD INDUSTRY

Viscofan supplies a taylor-made casing to meet the needs of its customers

RETAILER

Viscofan casings help our customers to comply with high quality and food safety standards

CONSUMER

Feeding a growing population of more than 7,500 million people

  Viscofan has evolved naturally towards a technological improvement geared towards sustainability. Hence, on-going improvement work seeking greater efficiency and sustainability in process and product enhancement is essential to boost competitiveness and returns at long term. In this regard, Viscofan adapts a proactive approach in the search for sustainable solutions at technology and product level, boosting relevant aspects, such as the circular economy, the search for energy efficiency, the reduction of CO2 emissions and the reduced need for water.   

Innovation is an on-going process with strategic product and technological development projects in all casing families (cellulose, collagen, fibrous, plastic and vegetable), and in its final product applications (more than 14,700 items sold in 2020), also including other diversification products. Our products boost the innovation of the food sector, enabling applications to be developed aimed at providing Viscofan with the range of products required to reinforce its presence on the global market. In this regard, the main current Research, Development and Innovation projects under way are principally focused on the following areas:

• The development of new products according to the target markets defined in the expansion plan, and those required by our customers, and also new generation executions, designed and oriented towards offering tubular alternatives with differential performance and features.
• The development of active casings that are able to confer functionalities to the product they contain, gaining in efficiency and preventing food waste.
• The development of production alternatives and technological solutions through radical breakthroughs that allow an increase in added value and efficiency levels or significantly reduce production costs for meat casings, through modernisation, streamlining and simplification, improving not only Viscofan’s competitiveness, but also the sustainability of its products and processes.
• Research aimed at extending the range of adequate materials to manufacture casings and their features, while also taking into account sustainability criteria such as their biodegradability or recyclability.
 
• Technological support for improving existing products and processes, and for the Company’s international expansion, all this adhering to Viscofan’s technological and quality standards and current regulations, as well as the optimisation of production costs.

Progress in the field of digitalisation represents a new innovation opportunity that Viscofan wants to take advantage of to lead the industry’s digital transformation. In collaboration with third parties, Viscofan’s 4.0 industry team wishes to apply the solutions offered by new IT technologies to our operations. We are seeking to improve the quality of our products, obtain the best information possible to improve our production process, perform predictive maintenance, etc., through solutions based on artificial vision, the development of technological solutions with the digitalisation of the movement of materials within the facilities, and the development and implementation of a smart 4.0 industry management system.

This activity is possible thanks to an innovation network and culture that extends to the whole organisation, and the corporate research and development centre coordinates, directs and supports the specific research and development activities conducted at each production plant and coordinates the multidisciplinary work teams. The corporate centre seeks to share the best practices, technological knowledge and the ideas between the different production centres. The Group has an R&D team of 140 people in 2020 compared with 135 in 2019.

Geographical presence

The casing market is global. Our customers are located in 110 countries around the world, so providing a quick response adapted to their needs is often a differential element of their purchase decision. To improve this response capacity we have the largest production and sales network in the market, with a presence in 19 countries and 22 production plants

In 2020, the opening of a Representative Office in India enables Viscofan to strengthen its presence in this country with a population of over 1,300 million inhabitants.  

Diversification

Viscofan has its own division aimed at diversification, which actively pursues and develops avant-garde growth and innovation opportunities in materials and other activities other than the casing business. These opportunities are explored and developed directly by internal teams and through partnership agreements with third parties that stand out in specific areas (technological, industrial, medical, etc.). Activities related with health and sustainability constitute the fundamental pillars of the diversification activities.

Viscofan’s ample knowledge in the processing, use and transformation of raw materials of a biopolymeric nature constitutes an innovation opportunity and, hence, a growth opportunity for Viscofan. A good example are the new solutions based on the technological knowledge of collagen.

Collagen is the most abundant protein of the human body and of animals but, in turn, it is a singular versatile material and, therefore, is used in various areas that are beneficial for people, such as regenerative medicine, nutrition, health and life sciences. Viscofan applies technologies and extraction methods to process collagen from bovine skin for the industrial development and production of new collagen biomatrix in the medical and nutraceutical area.

The inclusion in December 2019 of the companies acquired from Nitta Gelatin Inc. -renamed as Viscofan Collagen USA Inc. and Viscofan Collagen Canada Inc.- aside from contributing the production of collagen casing in North America, they contribute to extending the range of Viscofan biomaterials with Collagen Gel, a collagen material which serves as a base for medical devices and biomedical research (coating of medical devices, products to heal injuries).

On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a delay in the research phases of projects under way, such as the case of Cardiomesh, where the medical personnel involved therein interrupted his work in the project to collaborate on the front line in the fight against the virus. Likewise, the recruitment of patients required for the clinical trial phase has slowed down.  

casing sector

Casing plays a key role in the food market. They are soft, cylindrical containers made from animal gut or from materials specially designed for stuffing meat or other food ingredients. They give sausages and cold meats their characteristic shape and are of great importance to our customers, who are looking for greater efficiency, increased production speed, reduced waste, and assured quality and consistency. That is why the use of casings is widespread throughout the world.

Belonging to the food market carries with it a great responsibility: that of providing millions of people worldwide with access to basic nutrition. A population that is continuing to grow and whose expectations in terms of taste, preparation and consumer experience are also changing and diversifying, while providing a maximum guarantee of quality and food safety.

In 2020, the context has been marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which among many aspects of our lives, has affected the food habits in many countries due to the measures to prevent the spread of the virus, with lockdowns, social distancing and mobility restrictions. This situation has generated a greater demand for products aimed at applications that generally lean towards a greater consumption at home, to the detriment of those that are generally consumed in the street or at restaurants and social events.  

With this situation, casings have demonstrated that they are an essential ingredient for the production of basic foodstuffs for millions of homes around the world and, hence, the market has grown throughout the year, especially in those product families more suited to the production of cold cuts most destined for home consumption: cellulose and fibrous.

In 2020, the casings market exceeded 59 billion meters and has an estimated value of €4.4 billion. In order to meet the stuffing needs, a meat processor must choose among the different market alternatives, either with animal guts (47% of the market) or customized casings which, in turn, can be produced with different materials, depending on the desired production and product characteristics, combining a better range of casings with production savings.

The greater the production requirement and the sophistication of the meat processors, the greater the tendency to adopt customized casings as opposed to animal casings, hence the company has four main types of technology: cellulose casings (14% of the total market), fibrous casings (7%), collagen (22%) and plastic and others (10%).  

LEADERSHIP AND MORE TO BE STRATEGY

Viscofan is the market leader in casings thanks to a unique proposal regarding casing technologies and a highly diversified presence in many countries.

We feel as our own the responsibility to adapt ourselves and create value on this market and, specifically, in 2020, the reinforcement of the service and the rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring the supply of casings, has been valued by customers in a context of high volatility and global uncertainty, enabling Viscofan to reinforce its leadership by gaining a market share.

Hence, 19% of the market (including customized casings and animal guts) trust our customized casings, compared to 15% at the beginning of the strategic period. Moreover, if we take into account only market players with production of customized casings, the market share stands at 37% (30% at the end of 2015).  

Major leadership, while the activities included in its MORE TO BE strategic plan have continued to be carried on, focused  on leading in all the main casings market in terms of service, cost and technology

The current strategy means a step further in the track record that began with the Be ONE (2009-2011) strategic plan. Under the plan and after these acquisitions, it was decided to restructure operations and draw up management plan to improve economies of scale, which the Viscofan Group previously lacked. This approach made Viscofan become a very efficient company, which gave cost optimisation the greater weight of management.

Once that goal was accomplished, Be MORE (2012-2015) strategic plan committed to greater development. The best technological improvements introduced, without giving up competitive cost advantage, gave us a more global presence in collagen and in other families, enabling us to reach other markets and a new scale  

But to be a global leader, we have to lead our key markets. In order to reach our objective, we have to continue to make progress in costs, technology and, of course, step up our level of service. And that is exactly what has guided the Viscofan Group towards its new vision in the MORE TO BE strategic plan: Become an authentic global leader, “THE CASING COMPANY”.

Such leadership cannot be achieved without a strong commitment to sustainability. For this reason, Viscofan is the first company in the sector to join the United Nations Global Compact for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. This commitment is formalised in the Sustainability Action Plan, which covers this strategic plan, and which was approved by the Board of Directors with the aim of meeting expectations and improving service levels with all our stakeholders: our shareholders, our customers, our suppliers, our employees and, of course, the society in which we operate.

As a result of this process, the Viscofan Group has made specific and measurable commitments in the area of sustainability, and a Sustainability Committee was created in January 2020 to promote and monitor the Action Plan.

Strategic Pillars

2020 was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, with respect to which Viscofan focused on three main areas: protecting employee health, ensuring the supply of our products to the food chain and contributing to preventing and combating the spread of COVID-19 and its effects.

Moreover, Viscofan has continued to implement the projects envisaged for the year encompassed within the MORE TO BE Strategic Plan and, in certain cases, modifying their planning due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic or the changes in demand. Projects that aim to achieve triple leadership in service, cost and technology in the main markets:  

MORE TO BE Strategic Plan Extension

In the MORE TO BE Plan, the Group is making a significant leap in the areas of Service, Technology and Costs with a multitude of investment projects of an organic and inorganic nature, resulting in a greater market leadership. Thus, we face 2021 with a more competitive market value proposal, unique and different, to take advantage of expected market growth in the year.

The uncertainty and persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a higher number of cases throughout the whole world, continues to be highly geared towards reducing the possible consequences of this crisis including, among others, the implementation by governments of measures to prevent its expansion, such as lockdowns, social distancing, mobility restrictions, and contagion risks that may affect the production of Viscofan, our customers or our suppliers.

Subsequently, the MORE TO BE Strategic Plan has been extended into 2021, to provide continuity to existing projects and as a driving force for others to continue to contribute to the company’s growth and strength in the long term. Among these are projects, of particular significance is the increased fibrous capacity at the Cáseda plant using the new technology, and the termination of the process to update the technology at the collagen casings plant in the United States.