Made in Mexico: Bimbo bread

If you grew up successful Mexico — oregon person spent immoderate agelong of clip present — it’s apt that 1 of your earliest nutrient memories involves the show of a smiling achromatic carnivore successful a chef’s hat. That carnivore isn’t conscionable a brand. He’s the look of Bimbo, the largest baking institution successful the world. A section fable turned planetary empire with a scope present spanning 76 countries and yearly income topping US $22 billion. You’ll spot him everywhere: stamped connected achromatic breadstuff with soft, cloud-like slices, connected chocolate-covered Gansito bars nestled successful schoolhouse lunchboxes, oregon adjacent connected bags of Takis, the spicy rolled maize snack that went viral crossed continents.​

Bimbo’s numbers onslaught maine each time. The institution employs implicit 152,000 radical worldwide. It has 13,000 products scattered crossed iconic banners — from Tía Rosa, Takis, Marinela, Oroweat, Entenmann’s, Pullman, Sara Lee, Barcel and Thomas, to treats bearing the people of The Cheesecake Factory. 

Bimbo’s breadstuff loaves are ubiquitous not lone successful Mexico but astir the world. (Grupo Bimbo)

No different Mexican marque has managed to onshore truthful adjacent to the bosom — and array — of the mundane household, not adjacent Coca-Cola. Bimbo’s marketplace penetration successful the state has matched oregon adjacent outpaced the beverage elephantine successful caller years. But down that humble mascot, the communicative is thing but simple.​

El Molino

Bimbo wasn’t dreamed up by overseas investors oregon MBAs, but by the Servitje household — Catalan immigrants drawn to Mexico’s postrevolutionary committedness who archetypal dipped into the bakery concern astir a period ago. In 1928, Juan Servitje Torrallardona opened El Molino, a humble bakery successful Mexico City, on with partners Bonet and Tinoco. El Molino rapidly became a vicinity staple, but calamity reshaped its destiny. In 1936, Juan died suddenly, leaving his teenage lad Lorenzo successful charge. Lorenzo, past studying accounting astatine UNAM, abandoned assemblage to steer the business. He inherited some the regular situation and the softly ambitious anticipation that bread, which truthful often arrived from suppliers tinged with mold and disappointment, could beryllium made fresher, safer and better.​

Joining Lorenzo was his uncle, Jaime Sendra Grimau. After years of grappling with unreliable extracurricular suppliers, they decided to cook their ain breadstuff — clean, nutritious and freshly wrapped — a extremity inspired by commercialized publications similar Baker’s Helper and by the tone of mom-and-pop ingenuity.​

The commencement of Bimbo and the powerfulness of cellophane

On December 2, 1945, Panificación Bimbo S.A. opened its doors. The founding partners — Lorenzo, Roberto Servitje, Jaime Jorba, Jaime Sendra and Alfonso Velasco — started with 34 employees and 4 elemental products: tiny and ample achromatic loaves, acheronian rye and toast bread. But the concealed wasn’t lone the recipe, but the packaging with cellophane, an innovation for Mexican bread. Generic waxed insubstantial hid flaws. Cellophane fto customers inspect their loaf earlier buying, a wide awesome that ne'er again would breadstuff beryllium a gamble.

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The sanction Bimbo emerged astir by accident, inspired by the founders’ children’s emotion for Disney’s “Bambi” mashed up (somewhat mysteriously) with “Bingo.” They aboriginal realized “bimbo” meant “kid” successful Italian and sounded similar “bread” successful Mandarin (“miànbāo”), saccharine serendipity that helped the brand’s aboriginal exports (whether the bakery knew of the antagonistic connotations of the word successful English is unclear).​

Osito Bimbo: Mexico’s astir celebrated bear

Branding rapidly proved arsenic pivotal arsenic baking. Bimbo’s achromatic carnivore mascot — the Osito — came to beingness aft Anita Mata adapted a Christmas paper illustration, adding a chef’s chapeau and apron portion Alfonso Velasco completed the look. Over the decades, the bear’s representation shifted with the taste mood: black-and-white for postwar thrift, full-color for mid-century optimism, brushed lines for a integer age. But his gentle regard stayed the same, embodying cleanliness, reliability and abundance.​

From the large metropolis to the full state (with loudspeakers)

Bimbo began from humble beginnings arsenic a concern started by Catalan immigrants successful Mexico City. (Grupo Bimbo)

Marketing innovation kept gait with concern advances. In 1949, Bimbo’s “truck 38” rumbled retired of Mexico City, fitted with loudspeakers and a phonograph, turning breadstuff transportation into show and spectacle. By 1955, Bimbo had grown to 700 employees and 140 customized transportation vehicles, serving metropolis and countryside alike, a logistics strategy arsenic modern arsenic immoderate successful North America.​

As Bimbo reached caller customers, its merchandise portfolio grew too: Bimbo Bear Donuts, Bimbollos, Medias Noches and Colchones bred familiarity with American-style convenience snacks and section spirit alike.

Gansito and the mill revolution

In the 1950s, Bimbo branched into pastries. Its Marinela line, launched successful 1954, would alteration country stores forever. After overmuch proceedings and error, Marinela debuted Gansito successful 1957 — a chocolate-covered snack barroom filled with strawberry jam and cream, with cocoa sprinkles and a duck mascot. Its slogan, “Recuérdame” (“Remember me!”), struck a taste chord, and soon Gansito symbolized not lone a snack but attraction from home, particularly successful the schoolhouse lunchbox. By the mid-1970s, Marinela was churning retired a cardinal Gansitos a day.​

These innovations required scale. In 1972, Bimbo opened the largest bakery successful Latin America, successful Azcapotzalco, Mexico City, with exertion truthful precocious it could nutrient one-and-a-half loaves per 2nd and included a unit shot tract and institution museum. Two years later, an adjacent Marinela works joined the complex, demonstrating Mexico’s committedness to the precise cutting edge.​

Multiplying brands, multiplying routes

The 1970s saw marque improvement explode. Bimbo launched Tía Rosa (sweet breads, tortillas), Suandy (butter cookies), acquired Ricolino (chocolates/candy), and created Barcel, soon the root of Takis, the trailblazing spicy snack that went connected to conquer planetary shelves and screens. By the extremity of the decade, Bimbo included 3 companies, 12 plants and 15,000 employees. In the years to come, these numbers would lone multiply.​

Going global: the Sara Lee milestone

Going planetary began successful Guatemala successful 1989. But the watershed infinitesimal came successful 2010, erstwhile Bimbo purchased Sara Lee Bakery’s North American operations for $959 million. Suddenly, this Mexican institution owned 41 bakeries, 4,800 transportation routes, the Sara Lee marque and 13,000 much employees, making Bimbo Bakeries USA the biggest baking institution successful America and flipping the publication connected planetary business. Mexico was nary longer conscionable an exporter of endowment and contented but a buyer, reshaper and person adjacent successful markets erstwhile seen arsenic unreachable.​

Takis: the viral Mexican snack

Takis person go a selling improvement acknowledgment to helium bold tastes of Gen Z. (Grupo Bimbo)

Barcel was primitively a tiny brackish snack division, but it created Takis — rolled, spicy tortilla chips — present a planetary sensation among Gen Z worldwide. Takis didn’t simply merchantability millions; they sparked societal media trends and viral campaigns from the UK to America. They’re present a awesome of Mexican innovation, proving that Mexican spirit — and Mexican risk-taking — tin bushed planetary players astatine their ain game.​

Facing crisis, pandemic and regulation

Recent years person enactment Bimbo’s adaptability to the test. During the COVID-19 pandemic, location depletion soared. The company’s scope helped it larn quickly. When China’s lockdowns hit, Bimbo implemented somesthesia checks and strict protocols for employees globally. In Peru and Colombia, sliced breadstuff income jumped up to 40%, arsenic the sandwich became the go-to repast for families spending much clip astatine home.​

Then came Mexico’s NOM-051 statement instrumentality successful 2020, requiring front-of-package informing labels for precocious fat, sweetener oregon sodium content, and banning cartoon mascots similar the Osito from non-compliant products. Bimbo responded by reformulating recipes, moving mascot imagery to compliant items, and engaging consumers connected new, healthier products.​

Sustainability: breadstuff for the adjacent century

Today, Bimbo is acold much than an concern nutrient giant. It is besides a person successful sustainability, aiming for nett zero emissions by 2050 and already sourcing much than 92% of its energy from renewable sources. By 2025, each its packaging volition beryllium recyclable, biodegradable oregon compostable, a people Bimbo is already 94% of the mode towards achieving.​

The institution has blazed trails successful regenerative agriculture, with much than 170,000 hectares of maize and wheat transitioned to sustainable cultivation crossed 4 countries. Water productivity is up, CO₂ emissions are down, and hundreds of farmers person received grooming to marque these goals a reality. Its conveyance fleet includes 4,200 electrical trucks — the largest successful Latin America — showing that adjacent old-school breadstuff transportation tin spell green.​

At the bosom of Mexican homes

A 2024 Kantar survey ranks Bimbo up of Coca-Cola successful Mexican household penetration, the archetypal clip a nutrient marque has achieved this successful modern memory. Bimbo’s products look astatine breakfast, astatine school, astatine household celebrations, everywhere. The Osito’s look evokes puerility and nostalgia with an strength matched lone by his planetary presence.

Bimbo’s brands and mascots evoke nostalgia for anyone who has grown up successful Mexico. (Grupo Bimbo)

​Young & Rubicam’s survey recovered that Bimbo ranked arsenic “the closest marque to Mexicans,” not lone recognized but beloved, shaping rituals and routines for generations. Whether it’s cookware dulce successful the morning, a Gansito astatine school, oregon Tía Rosa tortillas astatine lunch, Bimbo doesn’t conscionable merchantability food; it sells trust.

Recognition, gross and guardant motion

International accolades — Time magazine’s “World’s Best Companies,” Forbes sustainability rankings — support stacking up. With US $21.8 cardinal successful income for 2024, Bimbo is the largest successful its assemblage worldwide, holding a 4.3% stock of the planetary bakery marketplace (compared to Mondelez’s 3.4%). In the U.S., Bimbo Bakeries has grown from a 29% to a 31% stock of a $47 cardinal market.​

Expansion continues. In 2025, Grupo Bimbo acquired Don Don successful Southeast Europe, pushing its scope further still. It is besides committed to removing each artificial coloring from its products by 2026. Innovation ne'er stops, rooted ever successful an aged promise: “Make bully bread, with care, for each home.”​

The breadstuff that unites Mexico

Bimbo’s travel is the communicative of a Mexico successful motion: not content, not insular, but continually inventing itself. From a household grief to a planetary force, from waxed insubstantial to cellophane to biodegradable packaging, from a lunch-table favourite to a banal marketplace standout, the communicative of Bimbo is truly astir what’s imaginable erstwhile contented and ingenuity are allowed to emergence together.

Eight decades aft its founding, the Osito Bimbo remains, smiling gently, a awesome of however a section dream, handled with attraction and vision, tin turn into planetary belonging. Grupo Bimbo’s sanction pulses done tiny municipality bakeries, state-of-the-art factories and the astir cosmopolitan supermarkets of North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Its millions of loaves, cakes and snacks thread unneurotic schoolchildren, commuters, workers and families successful a breadstuff web that circles the planet.

The adjacent clip you interruption a Bimbo roll, dispersed it with butter, oregon scope for a Gansito connected a engaged afternoon, remember: you’re tasting thing overmuch bigger than a snack. You’re sharing successful the unlikely, ongoing gyration of a Mexican institution that learned, from hardship and hope, however to provender and charm the world.

María Meléndez is a Mexico City nutrient blogger and influencer.