ASCEF Annual Meeting, held last November 25^th, featured the participation of Mª del Mar Nogareda, HIPRA Executive Vice-President; Joaquín Serra, NATURA BISSÉ Senior VP & CBDO, and Marc Puig, PUIG Executive President and IEF President, who talked about innovation, sustainability, generational replacement, and other topics related with the family business.

With Amadeu Jori, ASCEF President, as a host, Marc Puig mentioned that companies could not work only with profit maximization in mind, but needed to address their stakeholders’ demands, from clients and providers to employees and the community itself, furthering a more humane and sustainable market economy. “Something which is already innate to the family business way of doing things”, he stated

Puig also spoke about the company-family relation: “While a company needs hierarchy, a family needs equality. Therefore, it is important to create a system of auto-limitation for the family that help to make objective decisions”.

Meanwhile, Mª del Mar Nogareda explained how research and innovation are part of the HIPRA’s DNA, “we not only dedicate 10% of the income to research, but we are also nonconformists and disruptive, with very clear ideas of what we want to do and not to do”. She also talked about the great challenge it means for them, as vaccine experts, to shift from the veterinarian sector to the human sector with the new COVID vaccines they are developing.

According to Joaquín Serra, the companies should sustainably manage their activity. “In Natura Bissé, we not only act that way, but also invest a significant percentage of the income on our foundation, which shows how important is corporate social responsibility for us.” Regarding innovation, he specially emphasized that innovation implies principles of passion and persistence.

The round table about innovation was moderated by José Luis Blanco, IEF CEO.

The meeting also featured a lecture about the Next Generation funds by Banco Santander.