From overcoming to the transformation conveyed into investment.

2020 was not an ordinary year. It demanded personal and collective overcoming.

For the Portuguese Fricon it was no different because although it closed the year with growth, this was a reality built without facilities. In fact, when the manufacturer specializing in refrigeration and freezing equipment for the food sector chose the expression “overcoming” as its motto for 2020, it was far from imagining, a few months away from the beginning of the pandemic, that the motto would come up. make so much sense.

“Not only ours, nor just the companies, but the whole society had to reinvent itself” says Hércules Zurita, Fricon’s Board Advisor, realizing that it was possible to avoid production breaks, which would be serious because there were a generous availability and a remarkable commitment from the whole team, which, working in shifts, allowed to achieve the necessary distance to comply with the sanitary rules to combat Covid-19, and at the same time respond to all orders and objectives, even surpassing the prognoses more optimistic.

Present in more than 115 countries on 5 continents, Fricon in Portugal closes 2020 with a value of more than 26 M €, having had a global turnover of more than 100 M € turnover, to which Brazil contributed a lot, where it also has a production unit since 1995 that integrates more than 800 workers.

“Fricon Portugal exports 82% of its turnover and in the last 3 years, it has made direct sales in an average of 70 countries” details Isabel Azevedo – Chairman of the Board of Directors.

In Spain, the results were not so positive, something that results from a typical response of that market, which in circumstances of economic pressure reduces the investment more quickly, however having seen a growth of 6.5% in relation to the volume 2019 business plan.

Now completing 45 years of existence, it is these results that allow Fricon to continue to support the community in which it operates, namely that of Vila do Conde, where its first factory and headquarters for Europe, in the parish of Touguinha -, employs more than 240 people and is an important asset, not only for the jobs it provides but also for the positive response to a multiplication of requests within the scope of the social responsibility it assumes.

In 2021, the motto defined is that of “transformation” and the strategy is to consolidate markets, with the USA, Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia as the target of growth and new investments in production lines, research, development, digitalization, professionalization, and training of company staff.

In 2020, Fricon started an investment plan that covers the production line, with reinforcement of machines for manufacturing, but also the complete computerization of the line and the renewal of the information system -, which will allow better control and conduct of the business. . Investment in training, research, and development of new products will continue to be central – Adianta Abília Azevedo Administrator of Fricon.

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