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Perspectives: Driving sustainability through social impact at Alpura
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Paola Correa, Sustainability and Social Responsibility Manager, Alpura, joins Diego Spannaus, Head of Sustainable Finance and Transition, Latin America, HSBC, to explore Alpura's sustainability journey and discover how the company is driving a sustainable future in Mexico's dairy industry. The conversation highlights innovative strategies in reducing emissions, promoting gender equality, and driving social responsibility.
This episode was recorded on 16 October 2025.
Disclaimer: Views of external guest speakers do not represent those of HSBC.
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Transcript
Introduction to HSBC Global Viewpoint Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to HSBC Global Viewpoint, the podcast series that brings together business leaders and industry experts to explore the latest global insights, trends, and opportunities.
00:00:12
Speaker
Make sure you're subscribed to stay up to date with new episodes. Thanks for listening, and now onto today's show.
Diego Spanaus on Sustainability in Latin America
00:00:20
Speaker
Hello, my name is Diego Spanaus. I'm part of the sustainability team. i'm I'm head of sustainable finance and transition for Mexico and Latin America in CIB.
00:00:31
Speaker
We're here in Mexico City. I'm going to have a discussion with my friend here, Paola Correa. She's part of Alpura. And we're going to have a discussion and on on their journey on the sustainability front.
Overview of Alpura's History and Supply Chain
00:00:44
Speaker
Maybe to begin with, maybe you can tell many people in Mexico knows Alpura very well. But maybe for our global audience, can you expand a little bit on Alpura, what did what do you do and your brand and things like that?
00:00:57
Speaker
Sure. Perfect. Thank you so much for the opportunity and being here. It's such an honor. So Alpura is a Mexican dairy company and that it has been in the market since 50 years ago. We have milk, we have yogurt, we have cheese. We are ah really pleased to be one of the emblematics company that our production, our logistic, our dis distribution, and our supply, it's all in in the same um ecosystem.
00:01:28
Speaker
Maybe you know, you don't know, but Alpura, Alpura's owners are our farmers. So we have more than a hundred of owners. So it is really interesting how a group of Mexican people, farmers, have this idea of, hey, we can be together build a plant and build a brand.
00:01:51
Speaker
And 50 years ago, and then we are here. Excellent. now Thank you. Thank you so much. So I think we get and a picture of the type of company. And ah so you you told me that you were in in Alpura for the last three years. Maybe can you tell us a little bit about your role, what you've been doing in the past three years in Alpura?
Alpura's Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility
00:02:10
Speaker
It's been a really nice journey. The sustainability team became i mean really important.
00:02:16
Speaker
This is really important because even when the sustainability was part of the company, but it's really important, for example, our farmers understand really well the climate conditions, the the the way that the cows are are having these consequences about the the heat and about the rain.
00:02:37
Speaker
But also all the supply chain and the production plants are understanding the impacts. So Alpura understand this and say, hey, we also have this ah foundation.
00:02:49
Speaker
The foundation, it's been with us since 2016. And that was the the main part for sustain ah but for corporate responsibility. But in the other part, the environmental part, the government's part, it's the way that they put it in this area. So it's the way that the the topics converge and and and have a huge impact in all operations.
00:03:14
Speaker
Absolutely. So I think it you have a great challenge ah ahead of you. And I think clearly Alpura is showing a great progress in this in the sustainability front. yeah As you know, HSBC, and we are sponsors of the of the sustainable Sustainability Innovation Award ah for Mexico. And this is open for...
00:03:36
Speaker
customers of HSBC, non-customers of HSBC, and we try to identify those customers that have the best practices so that we can share those good practices and learn from one another.
00:03:48
Speaker
So why don't you tell tell us a little bit about your um participation in this award in the social category, how this fits within the Alpura overall strategy.
Social Impact and Women Drivers Program
00:03:59
Speaker
It is important, the social part for us, because one of the major things that we've been working since 15 years ago, it's people. It's how how we connect, not only as a brand, as a company, with the people.
00:04:14
Speaker
We have a program right now happening in our operation that it's called Women Drivers. Because, us I don't know if it's like like the regular in all the world, but...
00:04:28
Speaker
Pretty much all our um drivers, truck drivers, were men. And we understand why. And we have like, if anyone can drive, why most of the of the people we have are men.
00:04:45
Speaker
And we open a program and say, hey, if you want to participate, And you are women. We can like do the capacitation. you You can hear. We can give you the instructions. And you can be part of Alpura.
00:04:57
Speaker
Because we believe everyone can do it. for For women, sometimes it's it's different and it's more complicated because you have to take care of the children or you have like more involvement in in the in the household. So we're trying to change this.
00:05:14
Speaker
all of the companies, pretty much Mexican companies, are like involving or have or having more men in the operation. And it's like a common thing.
00:05:26
Speaker
And we believe we can change that. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. and congratulations on that program. I think we are very much aligned HSBC as well on the an issue of ah gender equality in Mexico and in Latin America. But in Mexico in particular, there's an issue of gender inequality. So when you look at women...
00:05:48
Speaker
Not only in some specific ah positions or roles, like you were mentioning the truck drivers, but also when you look at women in positions of managerial positions in organizations, the ratio is not 50-50 as it should be.
00:06:02
Speaker
And also when you look at boards of directors for companies as well. So we are also aligned in that respect. So we have this program called Mujeres al Mundo, Women to the World, in which...
00:06:13
Speaker
We try to promote gender equality, provide opportunities for networking, opportunities for um training so that, ah yes, so that we can see more and more women succeed in
Addressing Methane Emissions and Electric Trucks
00:06:25
Speaker
Mexico. I think as a leading dairy player in Mexico, how important is you reducing your emissions, ah your carbon footprint as part of the of your strategy and what you're doing as an organization to reduce your kind of carbon footprint?
00:06:41
Speaker
Well, that's really important because, as as I already told, we have the ranch as part of our scope tree. So the ranch has cows.
00:06:51
Speaker
The cows produce methane. And methane is one of the biggest um contaminants in in in the environment. it It's really interesting understand what part of METAN are we trying to deal with, because when you feed the cows and you produce the grass to feed the cows, you are reducing emissions from the fertil environment. And there are many studies from, bri I think pretty much are from California universities, They are trying to understand this this um equation, ah food versus cow emissions. But it is really it really interesting because we think about cows, we think about methane, but...
00:07:33
Speaker
Pretty much every single human produce methane. But we are um trying to understand, specifically for the cows, if you put some combinations in the food, how is ah the methane evolution, quantification, um right now we are trying to understand that part.
00:07:53
Speaker
If we can do something from the food, if we can do something for the food. the rest, if we can do something for the water consumption. And in in how can we reduce this that part?
00:08:04
Speaker
And that's for the farms. For the specific logistic production, we're starting to change our trucks, from electrical trucks. And this is really complicated because when we think in an electric car, car it's our cars. So it's easy because you can ah change or you can control how many kilometers are you moving with that specific, but think you need that specific car to move your production.
00:08:34
Speaker
If they have a traffic, if they have like a fire, fire, real accident or something that can change. So when you are doing this with your logistics, it's really, um it's it's not easy.
00:08:51
Speaker
So with this, I'm trying to and to reduce our emissions. Also, we have plans for our for our companies, for our for our um production plans. And that's involved ah more investment, more change of technology. You have to like do this alliance with your supply. So that are part of a program that we have already right now and and that is going on. It's our strategy, sustainability, that is going to 2030. And it's going to be launched, I think, in the next month. It looks like you're active on many different fronts, and that's fantastic. So it's good it's good that you're changing many of your cars to electric. So this is part of a HSBC strategy. We have a strategy in which we look at some some areas that we're really willing to be active on, and the greenification of transport is one of them. So that's great news, and congratulations on that. That will have a significant impact on So as an organization, we we are a bank, clearly, and we want to finance our customers. And we have goals in terms trying to promote sustainability.
00:09:56
Speaker
So, of course, you've been mentioning some of the activities, the actions, but it would be good to learn what are some of the challenges that you face as you try to implement this this this change in the organization. Can you share with us some some of these challenges?
Challenges in Sustainable Packaging and Investment
00:10:12
Speaker
I think one of the major challenges for pretty much the food industry is the regulation, because you are dealing with something that a human is going to eat.
00:10:23
Speaker
So sometimes, for example, for packaging, even when you have the goals, for example, to put recycled content in the packaging, it's really complicated to to be sure and safe and get all the approvals to do that kind of changes.
00:10:39
Speaker
That's one of our our major um complications right now. and And I think it's it's it's in general for for food industry. Another one is investment.
00:10:50
Speaker
as As you may know, sustainability investments are long-term investments. And sometimes companies are thinking in the short term or or having these um KPIs that are not involving sustainability topics. But when you put the topics besides that KPIs,
00:11:08
Speaker
It's really interesting how the the the way of the the company change. And they say, hey, we can do that because at the end, we're going to have more water, we're going to have less emissions, and and the equation change. So for me it's really interesting understand how finance team and how the sustainability team team talks about it. Because you are you are changing the way the company thinks.
00:11:35
Speaker
And I think it's ah it's a major... goal right now? No, absolutely. So I think i think the challenges are are very clear. And and as an organization, we we really would like to be aligned to support our customers as they face these challenges. Of course, fuha food and agriculture have the specific challenges and and the regulatory the regulatory issues you mentioned are are very clear. So how about any any other aspects, for example, regenerative
Animal Welfare Goals and Certification Issues
00:12:05
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agriculture? Is that something that you're exploring as an organization, Alpura? Do you have any anything to mention in that front? Yeah, but not agricultural.
00:12:13
Speaker
it's It's for the cows. It's more focused on the cows. One of the ah ah of the of the issues is animal welfare. Because when you think about agriculture, it's like the first step.
00:12:25
Speaker
But we are right now dealing with the cows or or working with the cows. So the animal welfare is our major topic right now. There are many certifications happening right now, governmental. or also from NGOs. And in Mexico, we don't have it.
00:12:42
Speaker
So if you want to have certification for animal welfare, you have to go outside and ask for for a a certification company to come in and do a certification. And it's really interesting how the the dairy industry is asking for this certification in a national way.
00:13:02
Speaker
Because but i don't know if every single one of us, but for Apura, it's important. It's our goal right now to have 100% of our farmers certified by 2030. I think clearly it's not easy. what the The journey you're embarked on, and congratulations on all the things that you have done already. But maybe to wrap things up, maybe as other companies in the food and agri sector are embarking on a similar journey, do you have any suggestions or recommendations for them to be successful?
Voluntary Sustainability Initiatives and Communication
00:13:38
Speaker
I think being a stubborn, it's pretty much because sometimes you have to understand how can you put the topics for for the talk.
00:13:52
Speaker
If you are talking with a finance team, you have to go with the numbers. If you are talking with the marketing teams, you have to go with examples from another country or another brand. If you are talking with human resources, you have to say, hey, we have to do it before it's a law or something like that. so Sustainability for me, it's ah something voluntary.
00:14:17
Speaker
You don't have too much loss right now happening, but you have too much pressure. So with it with that pressure, you you you can work and do indo things better. You can work and change the way they are doing. Because you believe in what you're doing.
00:14:34
Speaker
And Alpurits believe in what that we're doing. So for us, is we're not going to wait until it's a law. We're not going to wait until someone is asking to do it. Because we wanted to do it. Because we believe in that.
00:14:47
Speaker
Excellent. No, that's fantastic. So I think, and thank you for your time. It's been a very fruitful discussion. I've learned a lot about, we've all learned a lot about Dalpura's journey. Clearly, that you have great leadership from Tania all the way down and in an industry that maybe is a bit not as open to change as one would imagine. So that requires a lot of ah effort. Thank you again also for sharing about your commitment to social, ah growth in Mexico to gender equality in particular, and to supporting women in different ways.
Mexico's Social Taxonomy and Just Transition
00:15:24
Speaker
that's That's really important. And we understand that that will that will bring much more value to to Mexico. Mexico is the first country globally to have a social taxonomy in their sustainability, which is a Other countries now are following Mexico. It's really important because as an emerging economy in Mexico, we need ah we need to have a a just transition. Transition only, it wouldn't be fair for a country like us.
00:15:50
Speaker
And we need that just transition that would include everyone, all the society. So that's really important to keep in mind. Also, all your efforts on the ah environmental aspects, including reunification of your transport and also your efforts to control methane emissions, which is very are very impactful for the for the for the whole world. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Diego. Thank you for HSBC for this opportunity. Thank you for joining us at HSBC Global Viewpoint.
00:16:23
Speaker
We hope you enjoyed the discussion. Make sure you're subscribed to stay up to date with new episodes.