Socidade Industry De Aperitivos

SOCIEDADE INDUSTRIAL DE APERITIVOS (SIA)

DELIVERING THE CRUNCH FACTOR TO THE LAST BITE powered by Inside Food & Drink

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PROFILE

Pedro Santos, CEO

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lavour, texture, and freshness are just some of the key elements a hungry consumer wants from a packet of crisps. From plain to hot and spicy flavours, if the thought makes them salivate before they dive in for the first crisp, then job done!

That’s the goal and fulfilment of Sociedade Industrial de Aperitivos (SIA), a producer of 87 million packets of crisps annually and enjoyed on different continents as we speak.

“The secret goes back to ensuring strict quality control of our main raw material: the potato,” attested Pedro Santos, SIA’s CEO for the past three years. “We work continuously with our suppliers to have the best potatoes and develop new varieties that answer consumer demand for crispness and flavour. That passion and desire for quality has allowed us to arrive where we are today in the industry.”

From its factory in Tentugal, near Coimbra, in Central Portugal, SIA is responsible for providing Iberians with their much-loved Douradas, Super Douradas and Sr. Basilio brands with a host of tasty varieties.

The Sr. Basílio range offers a very smooth texture and unique flavour representing the traditional values of the brand. For variety and innovation, the Super Douradas are the option: with a wide range of options from traditional plain and salty to unique flavours such as pizza.

Private label brand producer For the past 15 years, more than 90% of its production has been focused on private label brands, making it the biggest private-label brand producer in the Iberian Peninsula today.

While its Super Douradas, Douradas and Sr. Basílio brands continue to gain greater traction, as a mainly private label brand producer, SIA exports around 20% to France, Spain, Northern Africa, and African Portuguese-speaking nations.

SIA is the second-largest producer of crisps in the Iberian Peninsula, including Spain and Portugal. It holds around 55% of the Portuguese crisps market and 15% of the Iberian market.

Over its 32-year history, SIA has been owned by various industry heavyweights from Nestlé to United Biscuits and Grefusa, but also a private family, before Grupo Altho, a family-owned company and the biggest French producer of crisps, with 40% of the French market, began in 2014 its acquisition process of SIA, and became the sole shareholder in 2019.

As the second biggest company in its region, and the largest employer with a team of 240 workers, SIA is now a €43 million business, having seen sustainable growth over the past decade and a rise in its SKUs and customers.

“Today, we produce 87 million packets of crisps a year, a 25% increase from 2016,” commented Mr Santos. “That is due to continuous investment in the factory’s modernisation. Quality is the main pillar for our growth, but critical investments enable us to stay abreast of industry standards. These have helped boost capacity and meet our clients’ needs.”

This is all underpinned by SIA’s High-Level IFS certification and its four ISO accreditations – ISO 9001, 14001, 22000, and 45001 – which focus on quality management, environment management, work and food safety, and security.

SIA is also keen on sustainability in almost every aspect of its business and production. For example, it uses 100% recyclable

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packaging and is developing an investment package to install solar panels to guarantee 50% of its electricity needs.

While capacity has grown due to a planned three-year investment cycle, SIA has had to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic and other external crises.

“Covid has not benefitted our category as we depend a lot on family events, gatherings and outdoor activities,” Mr Santos said.

“However, we achieved over 3% growth in 2020 and 2021, and, with the opening of society in 2022 and tourists returning, we foresee growth in excess of 10%.”

In 2021, SIA bought almost 55,000 tons of raw potatoes for its crisp production. Nearly half were from Portuguese producers, mainly for the summer campaign, and with whom SIA has longterm partnerships.

“During the winter, there is no storage capacity in Portugal, so we import from Spain and France,” Mr Santos explained.

That is a problem easily overcome, but the portents of troubled times may only now begin to threaten the industry. He said: “Because of Covid, the sector experienced a raw materials crisis last year and was aggravated this year by the war in Ukraine.

“This impacted our cost structure as we look to Ukraine especially for sunflower oil. It’s simply impossible to pass on price increases at the same speed as we receive increases in costs. The entire supply chain has to make an effort of containment.

“In trying to address sales growth, we estimate we will have to produce at higher costs and still need to guarantee raw materials on time despite the supply chain crises we live in.”

Long term view The main focus for SIA in 2022 will be “to guarantee the profitability of the business and a healthy cash flow,” confirmed Mr Santos.

The company will look to 2023 to put in place its next three-year investment plan focusing on support facilities to boost capacity and address the evolution of new technologies.

Mr Santos reflected: “Fresh potato consumption has been declining, but our category sales have increased year-on-year, which means our consumer is looking for a tasty, indulgent and ready to eat product.

“Our suppliers and clients know they can count on us. We make long-term agreements with suppliers, which guarantees a longterm, stable and sustainable relationship, allowing them to plan their business and investments. For the potato farmer, we make yearly contracts with a fixed price, so they know what they’re going to get, and gives them a stable vision for the future.

“Maintaining long-term relations is not only how and why we’ve overcome the current crises without major setbacks, but the reason why nearly 80% of our sales are with customers who have been with us for more than ten years.”

He concluded: “While our industry is going through tough days, our long-term view and strategy will enable us to overcome these difficulties and help SIA remain an important player in the Iberian crisps industry and the biggest private label brand producer in the Iberian market.” n

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