On 10th April at the Hall of Events at the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, the award ceremony was held for the Prince Felipe Awards for Business Excellence. The ceremony was presided by HRH the Prince of Asturias. The Leading Brands of Spain Forum would like to congratulate the SOS Group for the Leading Brand Award and Barceló Hotels & Resorts, which received the Award for Business Competitiveness. Together with the recipients of previous awards, these companies are an example for all our associated brands. May all our members be encouraged as a result to enter as candidates for next year's awards.
 
The Prince Felipe award for Leading Brand was given to the company SOS CUÉTARA, “because, although its candidature for the award was presented via its Carbonell brand, it represents a model management of a portfolio of renowned and diverse brands in a highly competitive sector such as the food sector. For having based its international expansion on a clearly brand-based bid: the cornerstone of its fierce internationalisation policy has been the acquisition of leading brands in other markets”.
 
The SOS Group is currently the second Spanish food group in terms of turnover, from among the companies in this sector which features on the Spanish Stock Exchange, and has one of the best brand and product portfolios around the world in the food industry, as its major brands are leaders in their fields and markets: in vegetable oils (with Carbonell, the best-selling oil in the world, and Koipe), biscuits (Cuétara), rice (SOS), olives (Carbonell), vinegars (Procer and Louit), sauces (Louit) and confectionary (Café Dry and Pictolín). The company also has wide international presence with recognised brands and leaders in the most important markets in the world. This is the case of Carapelli and Sasso, the leading brands of olive oil in Italy, with key positions in other parts of Europe, the US or Australia. Furthermore, the Cuétara brand is the leader on the Iberian market (Spain and Portugal) and in Mexico with Tosta Rica.
 
Nominees:
ACEITES DEL SUR –COOSUR S.A.
BARCELÓ CORPORACIÓN EMPRESARIAL S.A.
BANCO BILBAO VIZCAYA ARGENTARIA S.A.
IBERDROLA, S.A.
TELEFÓNICA S.A.
 
Jury
Chairman
Mr Ángel Martín Acebes
Executive Vice-president of ICEX
Secretary
Mrs María del Mar Castro y de la Montaña
Initiation Division Director for Promotion and New Projects
Jury Members
Mr Alfredo Bonet Baiget
Secretary General for Foreign Trade
Mr Juan Jiménez de Aguilar
CEOE Secretary General
Mr Fernando Gómez Avilés-Casco
Director General of the Senior Council of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Shipping of Spain
Mr Óscar Vía Ozalla
Directorate General for Trade and Investment Secretary General for Foreign Trade
Mrs Teresa Mogín BarquínDirector General for the Spanish Patent and Trade Mark Office
Mr Miguel Otero Toranzo
General Manager of the Leading Brands of Spain Forum
 
The Prince Felipe Business Competitiveness Award under the category of Large Businesses, was given to BARCELÓ CORPORACION EMPRESARIAL, S.A. “for the recent approval of a five-year Strategic Plan which includes an ambitious growth and expansion schedule, in addition to an absolute focus on product quality”. Barceló Hotels & Resorts thus consolidates its role within the top segment of the market, something which is already being achieved, given that at present nine out of ten of the Group’s establishments already fall under that category.
 
 Barceló Corporación Empresarial, based in Palma de Mallorca, is one of the most important hotel and travel groups in the world.
The company is fully owned by the Barceló family, who have been running the business for the past 75 years via three generations, since its creation in 1931 as a small passenger transport business on the island.
Barceló and its subsidiary companies own, manage, franchise and lease 129 hotels with over 34,000 rooms in 15 different countries, including 43 properties in the US, making it one of the 30 largest hotel chains in the world. Barceló offers holiday and urban establishments marketed under the brands Barceló Premium (top category), Barceló (mid-high) and Barceló Comfort (budget hotels).
 
Nominees:
GRUPO LECHE PASCUAL, S.A.
ISOFOTÓN, S.A.
 
Jury
Chairman
Mr José María Pujol Artigas,
Chairman of FICOSA INTERNACIONAL S.A.
 
Secretary
Mr Timoteo de la Fuente García,
Managing Director for Sectorial Analysis and Industrial Environment
(Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade)
 
Jury Members
Mr José González Viñas,
Chairman of HIJO DE J. BARRERAS, S.A., Chairman of PYMAR, and Chairman of UNINAVE
Mr Luis Valero Artola,
Managing Director of ANFAC
Mr Javier Riera Nieves,
Executive Vice-president of IGAPE (Galician Institute for Economic Promotion)
Mr Fernando de Cuadra García,
Director of the Advanced Technical Faculty of Engineering (ICAI)
Mrs María Teresa Gómez Condado,
Under-secretary for the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade
 
The remaining award winners in other categories were:
INDUSTRIAL QUALITY
Contadores de Agua de Zaragoza, S.A
DESIGN
Santa & Cole Ediciones de Diseno, S.L
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION (SME)
Biotechnology Institute, S.L
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION (Large Businesses)
M. Torres Diseños Industriales, S.A
RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Abengoa Bionergía, S.A
INTERNATIONALISATION
Tubacex
EXCELLENCE IN TOURISM
NH Hoteles
INFORMATION SOCIETY AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS
Telefónica, S.A
As Awards for the overall evaluation of companies, which considers not only the specific aspects indicated above but also others highlighted within the general competition framework in which they operated, two companies received special awards for Business Competitiveness, one for SME, and the other for Large Businesses:
BUSINESS COMPETITIVENESS (SME)
Metalquimia, S.A