Estrella Galicia
A business model-integrated impact strategy.
Estrella Galicia
At a time of big growth and sustained international expansion, the company wanted to take a step forward as regards sustainability and have a shared, strategic vision that would drive its sustainable growth in the coming years.
Although the company had major sustainability projects underway, they lacked a common framework and many of them were far removed from its business model.
We designed the company’s positive impact strategy and integrated it in its strategic plan as a top priority. This strategy has made it possible for the company to foster a cultural change in its workforce towards sustainability, to define a cross-functional strategic framework with KPIs in all areas, and to come up with new projects, products and services that will add value to its business model whilst also aiming at having a positive social and environmental impact.
Estrella Galicia is a value-orientated family company that is guided by a philosophy of craftsmanship in the making of its products. From the very beginning, the company understood that its economic model also had social and environmental impacts. This is why we identified from the outset various projects underway in the company that were linked to sustainability in both the social and environmental spheres.
The challenge the company faced was to take a step forward in its commitment to sustainability. It wanted to shift from a vision more closely associated with social commitment to a vision that was integrated in its business strategy, positive impact being understood as a generator of value within the organisation. The company is relying on The Overview Effect to lead this transformation process and turn impact into a key strategic pillar for its future.
In order to tackle a transformation project such as this, we involved 18 company areas at the same time. Strategy, Purchasing, Industrial, Logistics, Innovation, Marketing, HR, International and Digitalisation are just some of the areas that played a key role in the project.
We managed to work in several working groups in parallel and get the strategy and the lines of action in terms of impact identified and prioritised by the heads of the different areas. The strategy we devised together is essential for the project to have an impact on the company’s culture and, thus, its decision-making process.
Estrella Galicia’s goal is “to be the most cherished beer, not the most sold.” This sentence guides its vision to fight against the standardisation of beer and to put the philosophy of craftsmanship and the value of the product before all else.
We managed to make impact a natural part of this goal of taking care of details, being craftsmen and wanting to improve all the time. Thus, impact was cross-functionally integrated in the organisation as one of its strategic priorities.
The strategy included 4 key pillars: origin, planet, people, and allies. These pillars include social and environmental challenges in an interwoven manner, both types being seen as having equal footing in the decision-making process and determining the key KPIs for assessing the strategy’s success.
At the end of the project, positive impact became one of the organisation’s five strategic axes and the number one pillar of the company’s 2022-2024 strategic plan.
We knew that coming up with an impactful strategy would not be enough to transform the company; the real challenge of sustainability does not lie in planning but in the execution of business. This is why, once we defined the strategy, we worked with all areas to identify specific projects having an impact on the company’s business model and a positive impact overall.
We completed our work by making a key selection of prioritised, visualised strategic projects in order to provide the company with a clear roadmap of execution in each area. We are currently working with Estrella Galicia in the execution of many of these projects.
Jorge Montero
Head of Strategy at Hijos de Rivera