The Puig group recorded last year with losses of 72 million, the worst result in the history of the company , compared to the profit of 304 million in 2019, as explained by the president of the group, Marc Puig . During the presentation of results, he attributed this evolution to confinement and social distancing, which has reduced the consumption of cosmetics and perfumery . 2020 has been “a complicated year”, he explained.

Despite all this, the operating result reached 93 million, compared to 333 million the previous year. Sales were 1,537 million, with a decrease of 24% thanks to the integration of the makeup brand Charlotte Tilbury , with great weight in the digital channel, in which it was the largest operation in its history.

The biggest drops in sales were registered in Spain, with 191 million and a decrease of 32% and in Latin America, with 257 million and a fall of 40%.

Puig has stated that they hope to return to benefits this year , although pre-pandemic levels will not be reached in “two or three years.” Despite the fact that the acquisition of Charlotte Tilbury has taken the company from excess cash to debt, Puig has ruled out going to the stock market to finance itself and expects to reduce the liability, higher income due to the expected growth.

The president of the group recalled that as of 2004, the company decided to focus on fewer activities, in fashion and perfumery , with which its worldwide presence went from 3% to close to 10%. Once they reached this critical mass, they opted to change their approach as a result of smartphones and China . Smart phones have triggered the use of products for the image , thanks to ‘selfies’ and social networks , Puig has argued.

That is why they opted for makeup and skin care products , since perfume has no impact in the digital world. This trend has led to further growth in cosmetics and perfumery. The other pillar is China, which stands out for its less use of perfumery than cosmetics. Puig has chosen to focus on these two pillars, and buy makeup companies, such as Charlotte Tilbury; and skin care, said Marc Puig.

New stores
After thanking his father for messages of appreciation, Mariano Puig , who recently passed away , has underlined, despite the effects of the pandemic, the opening of new company stores in Shanghai (China) and Los Angeles (USA), among others, since they did not have their own establishments outside of Europe. Last year the average of online sales was 28%, which was “a qualitative and quantitative leap”, he explained.

The company’s goal is to have “highly desirable and attractive” brands that help people “to reinforce self-confidence” through a family business, which provides a series of values ​​and ways of acting. The 2021-2023 strategic plan consists of doubling the turnover in three years and tripling it in five .

Despite the pandemic, the objectives are accelerating, he assured. In 2025 the goal is to have a series of brands at the level of 1 billion, another at 500 million and others, smaller, between 100 and 300 million. The focus is on Asia , which will assume 7% of the business in 2019 and will increase to 25% in 2025. And the digital channel, from 13% to 30% in five years.

Puig has stated that the group’s portfolio allows it to be ambitious in growth in Asia, particularly in China; and on the digital channel. The company has been divided into three divisions to accelerate growth. The group is currently the world’s fifth largest beauty and fashion group.

The president of the company recalled that in 2014, the year of its centenary, they already committed to being a greener and more social company. Despite meeting the objectives, there is a mandate from the family that requires it to be among the most advanced in sustainability issues .

“Many achievements have been made, but they are not enough,” he declared. Now the ambition is increasing for Puig to be recognized as one of the most advanced companies in this segment in its sector, he said.

The Mercadona supermarket chain has managed to establish itself as one of the establishments most demanded by consumers thanks to a wide assortment of products, which it markets under the Hacendado brand. Some of them have become authentic ‘top sales’ of the Valencian chain.

In 2020, Mercadona closed the year with a 5.5% increase in its gross sales , to 26,932 million euros, and its net profit increased by 17%, to 727 million, as indicated by the president of the chain , Juan Roig , in the presentation of the company’s annual results.

The main objective of the chain is to improve the quality of its assortment, Roig has advanced, something that it achieves thanks to the suppliers , mostly Spanish, who manufacture and produce those star products so dear to their customers.

Ham and cheese pizza
One of them is Hacendado’s fresh ham and cheese pizza . This classic, which Mercadona sells in medium-size formats (415 g for 1.99 euros), small (two 220 g units for 2.35 euros per pack), family (600 g for 2.99 euros), as well as In its gluten-free and lactose-free variety (2.99 euros) it is manufactured by Casa Tarradellas .

Last year, the OCU rated this pizza as the third best on the market in its analysis thanks to its taste, the high quality of its ingredients and the balanced nutritional level.

Hacendado ham and cheese pizza, for sale at Mercadona.Hacendado ham and cheese pizza, for sale at Mercadona.MERCADONA

Guacamole
The success of Hacendado’s guacamole has been such that some competitors, such as Carrefour, have been encouraged to launch their own product with 99% avocado to compete with that of the Valencian firm.

Mercadona sells its guacamole in two sizes : a 200 g tub that costs 1.59 euros and a 500 g tub, which costs 3.29 euros.

Like pizza, Hacendado’s guacamole has the approval of the OCU, which has classified it as one of the best on the market. The manufacturer behind this successful product is Frutas Montosa , an avocado supplier based in the Malaga town of Vélez-Málaga.

Pot of guacamole from Hacendado, for sale at Mercadona.Pot of guacamole from Hacendado, for sale at Mercadona.MERCADONA

Almond ice cream
As for ice cream, the Hacendado brand Almendrado is one of the most demanded by Mercadona customers. These ice creams are sold in a box of 6 units for a price of 2.10 euros.

The manufacturer of these ice creams has Valencian origin: it is the Helados Estiu company , founded in 1983 and which is also the one who makes another successful product at Mercadona, the mango, coconut and pistachio mochis . The fury caused by the latter has been such that they have even been sold out in some establishments .

Hacendado almond ice cream, for sale at Mercadona.Hacendado almond ice cream, for sale at Mercadona.MERCADONA

Stracciatella Greek Yogurt and Strawberry Liquid Yogurt
The North American chain Schreiber Foods produces two of the dairy products that Mercadona customers like the most. These are stracciatella Greek yogurt -whose 6-unit pack sells for 1.45- and strawberry-flavored liquid yogurt with protein , which costs 0.85 euros for a 280 g bottle.

Stracciatella Greek yogurt from the Hacendado brand, for sale at Mercadona.Stracciatella Greek yogurt from the Hacendado brand, for sale at Mercadona.MERCADONA
Wedge cheese and slices

Cheese is another of the products that are sold the most in Mercadona. The Valladolid company Entrepinares is in charge of manufacturing some of these cheeses for the Valencian chain, which are sold in slices or wedges.

This manufacturer, founded in 1984, has three production centers in Galicia, Castilla y León and Madrid , a packaging and logistics center in Valladolid and two dairy products production plants in Lugo and Zamora.

Entrepinares is also the largest national cheese manufacturer , with an annual production of over 60 million kilos and is present in 35 countries, as indicated on its website.

Old sheep cheese from Entrepinares, for sale in Mercadona.Old sheep cheese from Entrepinares, for sale in Mercadona.MERCADONA

Olive oil
The olive oil is one of the star products of Spanish cuisine and, consequently, one of the defendants in the Valencian chain. The one that Mercadona sells as olive oil (which is neither virgin nor extra virgin) is manufactured by the Malaga company Mercaóleo , belonging to the Dcoop Group, and which brings together 75,000 farming families.

0.4º olive oil from Hacendado, for sale at Mercadona.0.4º olive oil from Hacendado, for sale at Mercadona.MERCADONA
Fried tomato
The Cidacos Group , a Riojan company specializing in the manufacture and marketing of canned vegetables, is in charge of preparing its much coveted fried tomato for Mercadona.

Mercadona sells its fried tomato in two formats, brick and glass jar . Specifically, three 210 g mini bricks cost 0.80 euros compared to the 0.95 euros that the largest 400 g bricks are worth.

Fried tomato from Hacendado, for sale at Mercadona.Fried tomato from Hacendado, for sale at Mercadona.MERCADONA
The Valencian chain also offers an ‘artisan recipe’ fried tomato also manufactured by Cidacos, the price of which amounts to 1.28 euros for a 300 g jar and 1.70 euros for a 560 g jar.

The general secretaries of UGT and CC OO , Pepe Álvarez and Unai Sordo, respectively, have agreed to value the usefulness of the ERTEs , which, they consider, have prevented unemployment from rising further during the crisis caused by the coronavirus.

This has been highlighted in an interview that on the occasion of the celebration this Saturday of the first of May they have carried out in the program Hora 25 of the Ser chain, in which the leader of CC OO has stated that “we were able to put on the table the ERTE, which have surely prevented us from going through 20% unemployment instead of being at 16% “.

Álvarez, who acknowledged that “things have been done wrong . We see it in the queues of hunger,” said, however, that “if we had not taken the ERTE out of the closet, we would be facing a much greater job destruction. Three million have been maintained. of jobs by ERTE and aid to companies “.

In Sordo’s opinion, the workers have been the ones who “pulled the pandemic, sometimes with very low wages, without protective equipment and without knowing what this Covid was like. This class has sustained the country and a series of reforms must be recovered. to improve wages and employment and to give certainty “.

“When vaccination is consolidated,” Sordo continued, “we must recover the reform agenda that involves raising the SMI, for a pension reform that opens up a perspective that in the coming years there will be a pension system and a labor reform that avoid that the current formula is that of temporary employment and dismissal. “

For the Secretary General of the UGT, “this country lives in a state of tension and that makes us lose opportunities “, and considered that “EU funds should not only be for the green economy or digitization, but also to create jobs for quality”.

“What has happened in the United States,” Álvarez emphasized, “has led citizens to feel the need for union workers. That workers are organized is the best way to achieve improvements (…) In companies where there is union, there is higher contracts, fewer accidents … In the sectors with union affiliation there are better conditions “.

Regarding the labor reform, Unai Sordo was convinced that “the current labor reform can and should be turned around. The Biden thing is not anecdotal. We may be facing a paradigm shift to deal with crises . Biden vindicates the unions because through them they built the American middle class “, said the leader of CC OO in reference to the president of the United States.

According to Sordo, “we need to rebuild the redistribution of income. In the previous crisis there were growing inequalities that have fed some of the political monsters that we began to see here but that in the United States came to govern in the figure of Donald Trump “, the predecessor of Biden.

He added that “it is not true that Brussels asks Spain to maintain the Labor Reform of 2012 by wind and tide. We have to balance the relations between employers and workers.”

Regarding the demonstration on Saturday, the UGT leader commented that they are “delighted” that the third vice president of the Government and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz , will attend .

“May 1 not be taken away from us. It is not an invention of the extreme right. A minister who comes from where she comes … it is reasonable that she is with us, ” said Pepe Álvarez, referring to his membership in the Communist Party and member of United We Can.

The Government raises its deficit forecast to 8.4% of GDP this 2021. Minister Montero estimates that it will be 7 tenths more than the figure collected in the draft of the General State Budgets.

The Government has raised the deficit forecast for 2021 to 8.4% of GDP, which is seven tenths more than the 7.7% forecast included in the General State Budget (PGE) project.

This has been advanced by the Minister of Finance and Government spokesperson, María Jesús Montero, before the Executive sends the Stability Program to Brussels this Friday with the new fiscal scenario and the update of the macroeconomic framework, as well as the Recovery and Transformation Plan and Resilience, with the package of reforms and investments that Spain intends to promote to channel the 140,000 million European reconstruction funds that it will receive until 2026.

The impact of the third wave
The minister has defended that the updated path this Friday is “consistent” with the macroeconomic picture already presented on the forecast of GDP, unemployment and employment for the next few years, and this figure does not include the impact of the pending reforms, thus it has been done under an “inertial scenario”.

Specifically, the latest update of the table contemplates a GDP growth of 6.5% for this year, below the almost 10% initially expected, due to the “strong impact” of the third wave.

The public deficit closed the year 2020 at 10.09% of GDP , excluding Sareb’s losses (with which it rose to 10.97%), below the 11.3% initially forecast by the Executive. Looking ahead to 2022, the deficit will be 5%; at 4% in 2023 and at 3.2% in 2024.

Although the minister has ensured that there is data that invite “optimism” in the face of the crisis, she has also defended that economic stimuli be maintained “as long as necessary” , since it could pose a “risk” on what has already been done. remove them ahead of time.