Gruma: growing internationalization and jobs
Gruma, one of the world’s largest corn flour and tortilla producers, increased its degree of internationalization and its number of jobs in 2022 over 2021.
Its workforce increased by 1,000 jobs to 23,500.
In 2022, Gruma achieved net sales of approximately US$5.6 billion, 75% of which came from operations outside Mexico.
Previously, in 2021, that percentage was 74 percent.
With leading brands in most of its markets, Gruma operates mainly in the United States, Mexico, Central America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.
The company is headquartered in San Pedro Garza García, Mexico, and has 73 plants.
The company’s capital expenditures were US$298 million for the year 2022 and US$73 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Of those investments made in the last three months of the year, the most significant were: construction of the new tortilla plant in Indiana; upgrades and general maintenance throughout the company, particularly at Gimsa; equipment improvements at the tortilla plant in Dallas; and expansion of production in China.
Gruma
The company is a leading producer of nixtamalized corn flour and tortillas in the United States and of nixtamalized corn flour in Mexico.
It is also a major producer of nixtamalized corn flour and tortillas in Central America, of tortillas and other flatbreads (including pitta, naan, chapati, pizza bases, and piadina) in Europe, Asia, and Oceania, and of corn grits in Europe and the Middle East.
Corn is the main raw material required for the production of nixtamalized corn flour and constituted 63% of Grupo Industrial Maseca‘s (Gimsa) cost of sales during 2021 (not including cost over purchase).
In Mexico, Gruma’s largest business is the production of nixtamalized corn flour, which it conducts through our subsidiary Gimsa.
Primarily, the company purchases corn from Mexican producers and grain warehousers and from different parts of the world, primarily the United States, at international prices based on prices quoted on the Chicago Board of Trade.
In 2021, Gimsa imported approximately 23% of its corn purchases through its subsidiaries Compañía Nacional Almacenadora, S.A. de C.V., and Productos y Distribuidora Azteca, S.A. de C.V.
The diverse geographic locations of GIMSA’s production plants in Mexico allow for savings in transportation and raw material handling.
In addition, Gimsa sources corn primarily locally for its mills, and thus can better communicate with local producers regarding the size and quality of the corn crop and can more easily manage quality control maintenance.
