Five months after acquiring it, the new owners of Cerealto Siro Foods have begun a series of presentations to inform employees first-hand of their plan to improve the company's competitiveness. Afendis and Davidson Kempner actually plan to invest more than 40 million euros over the next three years in all their factories.

The company began its transformation process in July. After settling debts with financial institutions, the first step is to reach an agreement with its plants to implement the plan to improve competitiveness, which it has now presented to its workforce. With the aim of returning to profitability, the planned investment will be used to improve quality, food safety and the efficiency of operations. It will also work on promoting innovation and energy efficiency and improving costs.

Benchmark supplier
Cem Karakaş, the chairman of Cerealto Siro Foods, is confident about the company's future and –across six meetings with his employees – has personally raised "the need to implement measures that guarantee the business's competitiveness, profitability and viability in the short term. All of this in order to become a benchmark supplier for the industry, based on quality and innovation".

Joining the chairman in the meeting were Rut Aranda, a member of the executive committee, and Javier Leal, the head of global operations. This has conveyed a desire for transparency with employees; to work closer with them and gain their involvement and collaboration.

Strategic potential
Afendis Capital Management and Davidson Kempner Capital Management completed the acquisition of Siro on 1 July, capitalising it in order to face this new stage. In his first statements as the new chairman, Cem Karakaş demonstrated his confidence in the strategic potential of Cerealto Siro Foods.

"The company has built very strong customer relationships globally and is poised to become a leading supplier to brand name manufacturers and retailers around the world. We will offer our resources and experience in the sector to increase the company's competitiveness and build on the capabilities of its R&D and teams", said Karakaş.

^{Photo: Siro}