Arcor: History and Global Expansion of the Candy Giant
Arcor: From Humble Beginnings to Global Success
Arcor was born on July 5, 1951, when a group of entrepreneurs, led by Fulvio Salvador Pagani, opened a candy factory in Arroyito, Córdoba, Argentina. The company name “Arcor” is a combination of the initials of Arroyito and Córdoba, representing the city and province where the company was established in Argentina. In 1958, Arcor launched its first nationwide communication campaign on radio, television, and film, promoting a raffle.
Product Diversification and Retail Distribution
Arcor started to develop new product markets to expand and diversify its services. This included the production of chocolates, cookies, and other food products. The company also designed a retail distribution model that evolved and grew alongside the company. This system, now considered world-class, allowed Arcor to achieve maximum national coverage and is currently being replicated in countries throughout the region.
From 1990 to 1995, the company launched 300 new products, created 83 brands, and changed nearly 100% of its packaging. Subsequently, Arcor held an average of 100 product launches per year, and in 1999, it renewed its identity to be more international.
International Expansion
With a strong export policy, the company continued its internationalization process by establishing sales offices in Paraguay (1976) and Uruguay (1979). A year later, in 1980, Arcor started its expansion into Brazil with the acquisition of Nechar SA, a small candy factory located in Rio das Pedras, in the state of São Paulo. In that decade, in 1989, Arcor began production in Chile with the acquisition of Indal Foods SA.
At the same time, Arcor created its first brands to achieve greater differentiation. Thus, the Bon o Bon brand was born, an international development paradigm.
From the 1990s, the Arcor Group consolidated its multinational presence through the installation of commercial offices in several countries in North America: the United States (1993), Peru (1996), Colombia (1998), Ecuador (1998), and Mexico (2000).
In 1993, Luis A. Pagani, the eldest son of Fulvio Pagani, took over the company. Under this new leadership, Arcor achieved significant developments in various areas of the company.
In this decade, Arcor continued to strengthen the development of its retail distribution model and, at the same time, strengthened its export program to reaffirm its strategic decision to position itself among the leading international companies.
Continuing its international expansion, Arcor opened sales offices in Canada (2001), Spain (2002), Bolivia (2004), Venezuela (2006), South Africa (2006), and China (2007). It also continued its internationalization of production with the opening of new industrial plants in different parts of the world.
Strategic Acquisitions and Partnerships
In late 2005, Arcor acquired Benvenuto SACI, a leading food products company in the Argentine market. This added traditional lines of canned fish, tomatoes, vegetables, milk candy, jams, fruits, and seasonings to Arcor’s portfolio of brands, including La Campagnola, Nereida, BC, and Salsati, among others. With the purchase of Benvenuto SACI, Arcor added three new factories in Choele-Choel (Río Negro), Mar del Plata (Buenos Aires), and San Martín (Mendoza).
During this period, the Arcor Group developed several strategic alliances with global players through production and/or marketing agreements, as is the case with Nestlé and Brach’s, among others.
In 2005, the Arcor Group and the French group Danone partnered and unified their cookies, alfajores, and cereal bars businesses in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, giving rise to the largest biscuit company in South America: Bagley Latinoamérica SA.
In 2007, in partnership with Grupo Bimbo, Sweet World was created to produce sweets and chocolates for the Mexican market and for export.
Currently, Arcor reaches over 120 countries with its products.