The growing demand around the world for consumption of animal protein has driven markets where JBS operates. With its global platform of operations, located in 15 countries and with more than 400 production units and offices, JBS is able to serve a variety of markets with high value-added products.
Changes to people’s lifestyles and upward trends in protein-based diets have been notable factors in JBS taking even more of a leading role in the food market over the last year. To promote best practices, JBS started the Global Innovation Team (GIT) in 2018.
Monitoring of global trends in the food market also provides vast business opportunities for JBS. The GIT furthermore allows for the Company to leverage its competitive advantage, promoting global knowledge sharing, rapid adaptation in adopting global trends, raising and launching innovative products.
Investment of over R$ 120.5 million in Innovation and Research and Development
In 2019, the Company began to use management tools to optimize development efforts for products with higher demand among customers. International food mega trends, such as reduced sodium and fat, smaller portion sizes and others, were also included in the project assessment. During this same period, an analysis of consumer demand for vegetable proteins led to Seara launching the Incredible Seara range, making it Brazil’s first major company to offer a complete range of products made with 100% plant-based protein. This new product came to supermarket shelves in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in late 2019 and will be available nationwide in 2020. Another highlight in this range was the Incredible Burger Seara Gourmet, a 100% plant-based burger.
These innovative products have the exclusive i Biomolecule, guaranteeing that the flavor and texture of plant-based products is identical to meat. There are seven products in the Incrível line, ranging from hamburgers to ready-to-serve plant-based meals, enriched with iron and vitamin B12. The line is 100% plant-based and transgenic-free, serves as a source of iron and fiber, is rich in vitamin B12, has zero trans fats, is lactose-free and contains no egg or milk products.
In the United States, Pilgrim’s Pride is a leading supplier of organic chicken.
With maintenance of long-term investments in Innovation in mind, JBS opened its JBS Global Food Innovation Center in 2019, in partnership with Colorado State University (CSU). The Center is an educational and research unit geared toward enhancing food safety practices, meat sciences and animal welfare, while also developing educational and training activities in addition to performing equipment testing.
In Brazil, Friboi has a pioneering program on improvements to production processes, which allows for internal recognition of projects and their creators. The Continual Improvement Circle (or CMC, its acronym in Portuguese) program leverages knowledge by using the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check and Act) methodology. In some cases, when adaptable, the Company implements the winning initiative at other units or even in other businesses.
The Global Innovation Team (GIT) aims to offer JBS’s knowledge by sharing information, accelerating innovation through cross-border exchanges and creating global platforms that support innovative practices. GIT team members include innovation professionals from JBS business areas around the world, whose work is based on three pillars: product innovation, process innovation and technological innovation. Innovations conducted by the GIT in 2019 resulted in gains in raw material profitability, improved product quality and reduced plastic usage during production.
