Puratos has 'absolutely no intention to go public,' CEO Daniel Malcorps says
“We don’t need [additional] funding. Our debt/EBITDA ratio is below one,” CEO of Puratos, Daniel Malcorps told BakeryandSnacks at the opening of its latest innovation center in the US.
The family-owned business, which will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2019, reported sales of $1.9bn at the end of last year, and invests 2.5% of its sales into R&D annually, he explained.
“We [are growing] three to four times faster than the global market,” Malcorps said. “Our business grew 11% last year.”
He noted Puratos follows “strict rules of corporate governance,” even though the company is privately held.
Latest innovation center
Puratos has recently invested $1.5m in its latest innovation center in Miami, Florida.
The 3,000-square-foot facility includes offices, a bakery and chocolate lab, and a warehouse, and will serve the company’s rapidly growing customer base in the Southeast US and Caribbean regions.
Puratos has established innovation centers and manufacturing facilities in Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland and Wisconsin, and is set to expand its footprint to Boston later this year.
Anticipating 7.5% increase
Puratos said it is working with bakery and confectionery manufacturers to develop clean label products, and is closely monitoring the upcoming labeling rule change in the US.
“The opportunity for us is unlimited,” said Malcorps.
“We’re hoping to reach €2bn ($2.19bn) [worth of sales] by 2018, and €5bn ($5.47bn) by 2030. That’s about a 7.5% growth every year on average.”
“That’s another reason why we don’t want to go public,” Malcorps said, noting that, while most public companies report their earnings by quarter, Puratos is able to set long-term financial targets.
“We don’t want to be enslaved by Wall Street,” Malcorps added. “We’re passionate about bread.”
