El Conchel Original Food is a company that promotes the need to eat in a simple and balanced way. For this reason, they feel responsible for the creation of products that help the consumer in their daily diet, maintaining the traditional manufacture of their products, preserving their original flavor generation after generation.
Eduardo Cano Lorente is responsible for Exports of this company. In these lines he explains the work of El Conchel in more detail.
QUESTION: For anyone who doesn't know you, what is El Conchel and what does it do?
ANSWER: “El Conchel is a company in the meat sector dedicated to the production of products of pork origin, which was born as the result of a family project in the eighties. At first it developed as a small butcher shop run by the couple Caridad Gómez and Nicolás Cano and their eldest son Antonio Cano (current CEO of the company) and later the rest of the brothers joined the project, at which time they He decides to make a stronger bet, thus starting a small sausage factory whose main value was to maintain the tradition in the preparation so as not to give up the quality and flavor of the artisan sausages. Today, 27 years later, the company has more than 70 employees and the range of products has been significantly expanded in response to market demands. Without renouncing our quality standards, the philosophy of constant innovation has led us to face challenges such as the elimination of allergens from our products or the total disappearance of gluten from our entire portfolio. A range of cooked and smoked meats has been added to the traditional cured sausages, in which ham and bacon become star products, a line of fifth-range products aimed at the Horeca channel with products such as barbecue ribs, or our snack range, with which a very important potential has been observed in international markets”.
Q.: In which countries is your company present?
R .: "Despite the fact that entering foreign markets is a slow and expensive process, we have managed to be present in several countries, especially on the European continent, such as Germany, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, Ukraine or Luxembourg , although in Asia and Latin America we increasingly have authorization for more countries and very interesting opportunities are beginning to open up in countries like Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru or Japan, where we hope to settle very soon, or Hong Kong, in which we already have some clients”.
Q.: You work in a sector in which it is important to innovate and seek continuous improvement. Have you made recent investments in this regard?
R .: “Innovation is part of our values and one of the principles of our corporate philosophy. As I mentioned before, the total elimination of allergens from our product offering, the complete disappearance of gluten, and the constant improvements made to each of our products based on suggestions, mainly from potential and real customers, are some samples of our process. of change and renewal. In addition, we are working on a line of 100% natural products that differentiate us from our competitors. But without a doubt, the most notable bets are the incorporation into our team of a Research and Projects Manager who, together with the Marketing Department (also recently created), are in the development phase of a funnel and an innovation committee thanks to which is intended to renew and improve our products, as well as contribute new ideas that make us keep up to date and anticipate the demands of a market as competitive as the one we find ourselves in.”.
Q.: What do you think could be the reason for your company's success to remain competitive in the market?
R .: "In the first place, the constant concern to increase the quality of our products allows us to adapt to the demands of our customers and consumers, the latter being the ones who have marked a before and after in the change of direction that is taking place in our company. The trend towards healthy and balanced eating, as well as a high percentage of followers of the "Foodie" trend among our current and target audience, has led us to focus our efforts on products such as those belonging to the aforementioned snack range, whose main added values are its high protein value, the variety of formats adapted to the needs of the market and different types of customers and the availability of surprising flavors and at the same time with high nutritional value, thanks to having added pieces of walnuts, Manchego cheese with denomination of origin or blueberries to our fuet in snack format. All this, together with the recent update of our logo and brand image and the implications that this has entailed in terms of marketing and communication, are opening doors to markets for which our products were not sufficiently attractive before and which we consider to be the future as large distribution both nationally and internationally. To all this we could add the great efforts that are made in terms of service to our customers, which is something that they themselves highlight as a differentiating value of our company”.
Q.: You belong to the Association of Importers and Exporters of Albacete, ADIEX. How do you see the work carried out by the association?
R .: “At our company we highly value the existence of associations such as ADIEX that help and support the expansion of companies in our geographical area abroad. Not only is it useful at an individual level for each of the companies that belong to it, but as a group of businessmen from the same province, to help us internationalize our activities promotes the economic development of our area as well as the recognition of our region by favoring the image of Albacete internationally”.
Q.: What aspects do you think should be improved or strengthened from ADIEX?
R .: "Promoting meetings between partners to be able to share the experiences and experiences of each one in the international framework could help to learn from the mistakes and successes of others, as well as encourage and motivate those who are in the initial phases of expansion and who do not know very well how to adequately develop a project of such magnitude as the internationalization of a company, especially for SMEs. Courses and training on how to face or organize international fairs, on the cultural barriers that can be found in certain markets when exporting our products, the referral of articles, forums, pages or other materials of interest to partners depending on the sector in whoever they find, are some improvements that could be useful for everyone”.
