The Carinsa Group, a member of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF), is an industrial group with a track record of over 25 years. It creates, produces and markets of flavours for food, drinks and animal feed together with fragrances for cosmetics, cleaning products and detergents. The company has participated in the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) movement, where it explains how it has experienced the current Covid-19 situation.

Vanesa Martínez and Denia Martínez, the CEO and vice-president respectively of the Carinsa Group, say that “it is really important for us that our employees feel that the company is supporting them at all times“. This is why, when the State of Alarm and the subsequent lockdown were announced, “we decided to ask all the families with children, one by one, if they needed someone to take care of their children at home. This was something that concerned us greatly because we were not only thinking about the company, but also that all our employees’ children needed to be cared for.”

They also emphasise that protecting the health of employees is vital for the company. At the onset of the health crisis, they chose to conduct PCR tests on all their employees to detect positive cases and avoid infections within the company. These tests have been conducted repeatedly in recent months, thereby creating a safe, virus-free environment at their facilities.

The Carinsa Group has also consolidated its position as a consistent partner because, despite the difficulties, it was able to anticipate the situation by equipping itself with raw materials. It also made shipments ahead of schedule so that they arrived on time, thereby ensuring that all its customers received their orders trouble-free.

“How can we contribute to society in the long term?” they asked themselves at the start of the health crisis. “By creating employment“, they replied. “Since March 14, we have added 12 new staff members and we need to incorporate more into the company.”

“At times of crisis you realise that people really are wonderful,” they say. “And we cannot fail, nor do we have any intention of failing. And we show our resolve so that no one loses heart. Together we can all support each other and we have to create value, make people happy. And everyone here must help in this together”, they conclude.

The #DamosLaCara platform is a citizens’ movement promoted by employees and employers from all over Spain. It is an initiative that shows the commitment of family businesses to overcoming the current health and economic crisis by taking into account their contribution to employment and the revival of the economy.