The first image that appears as soon as the doors of the La Menorquina offices open could not be more evocative: an idyllic Binibeca with its white houses and the sea in the background. The historic ice cream brand thus remembers its birth on the island of Menorca, from which it has taken its name since Fernando Sintes made the first dessert in 1940. But we are not in the Balearic Islands but in Santa Perpètua de la Mogoda (Vallès Occidental, Barcelona) , a geographical distance that the company’s new management wants to bridge by recovering the brand’s link with Menorca.
It is not the only change that La Menorquina is looking for. When the current CEO, Iván Leal, arrived at the company in January 2020, the situation was “critical,” he recalls, which led him to have to apply a shock plan to avoid the disaster and reactivate the activity.
The merger between La Menorquina and Farggi in 2017 could not have worked worse and the company was then on the verge of bankruptcy. Lacrem (Farga family in alliance with Black Toro Capital) had bought the refrigerator from the Canary Islands group Kalise that year, but the operation resulted in an accumulation of falling sales, losses and debt. “At the end of 2018, the company was with the factory stopped and payrolls unpaid,” Leal continues. It was then that the current shareholder, the British fund Cheyne Capital, entered Lacrem. First to inject financing and since the end of 2019, as owner. The Farga family left the group and kept the network of stores (pastry shops and ice cream parlours), while Cheyne took over the manufacture of ice cream, with the Palau-solità i Plegamans plant, and the La Menorquina and Farggi brands. That is when the new management team led by Leal starts and tries to return the brand to the position that, they believe, it deserves.
The story of this manager is similar to that of the prodigal son who returns home. Originally from Menorca – one of his grandparents, like many citizens of the island, worked in the company – as a child he lived in several European countries and spent summers at his grandmother’s house in Binibeca. After studying Civil Engineering in Barcelona and Paris and working in the United States, he completed an MBA at Wharton, after which he spent several years in the City of London in investment banking. That is where he came into contact with Cheyne, who convinced him to lead the new Menorquina. It was like returning home.
The relaunch of the brand, however, experienced another setback with the arrival of the pandemic and the closure of restaurants and tourism, two of its major lines of business. Those bad times, which the entire industry suffered, did not paralyze them. On the contrary. “We took the opportunity to put the company in order and introduce the necessary changes,” summarizes the manager. They requested a loan from SEPI of 70 million euros that never materialized. “We have not received any type of state or regional aid, and this, in the end, has helped us develop our strategy with more intensity, what we want to do, where to grow, what we offer…,” says Leal.
Sales had hit rock bottom in 2020, the year of covid, with 43 million euros, 45 million less than in 2018. From there the comeback began. The reopening of the economy after Covid and the new strategic plan, together with the company’s restructuring, began to bear fruit. Last year they earned 105 million euros – the same sales volume as in 2011 – and by 2024 they aspire to exceed 120 million with a controlled financial situation – the operating profit or EBITDA has grown to seven million and the net debt to 31 Last December it was 36 million.
Three levers have driven sales and results. The first, a reinforced board of directors with professionals from giants in the sector such as PepsiCo, Central Lechera Asturiana or Unilever. The second, a repositioning of the brand in which the reconnection with Menorca and the improvement of manufacturing processes have played a fundamental role, with the recovery of traditional recipes and local ingredients that they advertise to highlight (cream from the Balearic Islands, locally produced nuts…). And finally, star collaborations with renowned hoteliers and chefs.
“We have promoted a startup mentality in a company that is more than 80 years old,” emphasizes Leal. This 2024 will be crucial to consolidate the new life of this historic brand. “We want to live 80 more years.”
