Copacol tops ranking ahead of Nestlé and Unilever
Copacol, headquartered in Cafelândia in western Paraná, took the top position in the CPG Leaders 100 ranking produced by GrowinC. The co-operative placed above multinational companies including Nestlé and Unilever in a study focused on how consumer-goods manufacturers expand through co-manufacturing, in which products are made through outsourced or industrial partnerships.
GrowinC examined more than 21,000 businesses active in Brazil’s fast-moving consumer-goods market. Its scoring system runs from zero to 100 and combines three criteria: scale, which accounts for half of the final result, and innovation and network, each carrying a 25% weighting.
Copacol received 85.6 points. Unilever followed with 82.2, while Linea scored 80.6 and JBS Brasil 80.2. The remaining companies in the top ten were Native Orgânicos, with 79.9 points; Nestlé, with 79.8; Catupiry, with 79.5; Korin Agropecuária, with 77.9; Mondelez, with 77.7; and Mais Mu, with 75.4.
The co-operative was founded in the 1960s and has developed activities across Brazil’s animal-protein supply chain. Its operations include poultry, fish, pork and milk. It later used that production base to develop a retail portfolio of about 50 products made specifically through co-manufacturing arrangements.
Copacol reported annual revenue of R$11.1bn. Valter Pitol, the co-operative’s president, attributed the figure to sustained investment over the years. He said industrial partnerships had been decisive in securing access to new supermarket shelves and in integrating food-distribution logistics more efficiently.
According to the report, co-manufacturing already accounts for about 18% of the products available on Brazilian supermarket shelves. Under this model, brands use the infrastructure, sanitary controls and processing technology of established agricultural co-operatives and other manufacturers. The ranking placed Copacol’s retail and industrial expansion within that broader pattern in Brazil’s consumer-goods market.
