{"id":5713,"date":"2023-06-07T11:15:44","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T17:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keken.com.mx\/history\/"},"modified":"2024-06-04T13:14:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T19:14:56","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/keken.com.mx\/en\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1657216558005{padding-top: 50px !important;padding-bottom: 35px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”History” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”” el_class=”bold vino”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1657216577173{padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Kek\u00e9n\u00ae<\/strong> is the brand name of our agro-industrial 100% Mexican-owned company. We produce, market and distribute pork in different presentations. The business is vertically integrated, from genetics, farms, Balanced feed meal plants, packing plants and our own distribution channels, which allows us to have complete control over the quality of the products we offer to consumers in Mexico and in different countries around the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Under our brand, we are currently the largest pork producer and export leader in Mexico. At the national level, we have distribution centers (CeDis) strategically located in the Southeast, Isthmus and center of the country, as well as our own chain of <\/span>Maxicarne\u00ae<\/a><\/strong> stores, where we sell pork, beef and chicken products for the homes of Mexican families and small businesses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The company’s beginnings date back to late 1991, when visionary investors decided to join forces to process and market the production of a dozen farms operated by the companies “Agroindustrias Yucat\u00e1n” and “Campi”, in their pork division.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Agroindustrias Yucat\u00e1n was a local company dedicated to the production of pigs in the state of Quintana Roo in partnership with ejido farmers. In 1991, it decided to start a “multi-site” pork production project in Yucat\u00e1n with the goal of reaching 13,500 bellies, being one of the first systems under this model to be built in the world in which the breeding (Site 1), transition or post-weaning (Site 2) and fattening (Site 3) farms are installed on separate land to have better sanitary control of production.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Campi, on the other hand, belonged to the <\/span>DESC group<\/a><\/strong> (a strong Mexican industrial conglomerate with companies in the consumer, chemical, automotive, and real estate sectors) and had its own chicken and egg production chain that included farms and feed plants. Also in the early 90’s, it decided to start a pork production project with the goal of having 11,000 bellies in the same multi-site scheme, also building fattening farms in a contract production<\/span> scheme with ejidatarios. Both companies, independent until then, developed the projects with the support of the international genetics company Pig Improvement Company (PIC).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1992, both companies began construction of the farms and received imported breeding stock from the United States and Canada to stock the first farms. In this context, they agreed to join efforts, investments and quality, building a modern packing plant in the municipality of Um\u00e1n in Yucat\u00e1n, which would begin operations a year later and along with it, the Kek\u00e9n\u00ae brand was born.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In 1994, the Um\u00e1n packing plant received the Official Inspection Type (TIF) certification, which opened the doors to the possibility of exporting, as the state was internationally recognized as free of Classical Swine Fever (CSF), a pork disease that had prevented exports until then.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was the beginning of Kek\u00e9n, when the economic crisis of 1995 hit the country, a very difficult period that, however, could be overcome thanks to the intense negotiations with creditors and support from the federal government, parallel to the establishment of an enormous productive efficiency. That same year a partnership was established between “Agroindustrias Yucat\u00e1n” and “Cargill” to build and operate a balanced feed meal plant exclusively for self-consumption, in the same municipality where the packing plant is located, Um\u00e1n.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1996, the company’s officers made another decision that would be transcendental for the company’s future: the creation of the first retail and mid-wholesale meat sales points, initially called Kek\u00e9n, with the objective of reaching more consumers directly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1997, former independent producers in the state began to join Agroindustrias Yucat\u00e1n’s primary production chain, thus forming the first private partnerships.\u00a0<\/strong>That same year, the first exports to Japan began, after the state of Yucat\u00e1n was recognized as free of CSF.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1999, the first points of sale were opened under the <\/span>Maxicarne<\/a><\/strong>\u00ae<\/strong> brand, expanding the meat supply with other proteins (beef and chicken) for consumers and local businesses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the beginning of 2000, “Agroindustrias Yucat\u00e1n” sold a significant share of the business to DESC Group, and in turn, DESC Group sold its chicken production business to Bachoco. With this, Kek\u00e9n consolidates the entire value chain into a single company under the name of “Grupo Porc\u00edcola Mexicano S.A. de C.V.”.<\/strong>\u00a0At the same time, an expansion project began in the Baj\u00edo region, which included production in farms in Guanajuato, Quer\u00e9taro, Jalisco, Aguascalientes and points in between, reaching 25,000 bellies.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2001, the first “Wean-Sale” or “Wean to Finish” (WTF) contract production farms were created in the state of Aguascalientes by transporting recently weaned piglets from Yucat\u00e1n to be fattened on these farms. However, after 3 years of operation in that area, it was decided to close mainly due to the strong sanitary problems in the region, keeping only the 11 WTF farms in Aguascalientes supplied with piglets from Yucatan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once the Baj\u00edo project was closed, the company focused again only on the Yucat\u00e1n peninsula, whose production had not grown during those three years. In 2003, the company began a project to expand the Sitios 1 farms from 3,000 to 4,000 bellies each, reaching a total production inventory of 35,000 bellies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2004, the packing plant in Irapuato (Guanajuato) began operations following a purchase from a local pig farmers’ association. The plant operates by outsourcing the <\/span>slaughter of pigs to a third partie slaughterhouse plant, with<\/span> 2,500 carcasses per week at that time. The strategic location of this plant would allow Kek\u00e9n to absorb the production of farms in Aguascalientes, as well as purchase carcasses from third parties in the area and process imported pieces from the United States to maximize production capacity and strengthen the supply chain for the domestic market. That same year, the diversification of export markets began at the Um\u00e1n plant, with the first meat exports to South Korea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2005, Hurricane Wilma severely affected the farm facilities located in Quintana Roo, leading to the decision to close in that area and concentrate production in the state of Yucat\u00e1n.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2007, DESC Group spun off its real estate division to form DINE and <\/span>KUO<\/a><\/strong>,<\/strong> which brings together the consumer, chemical and automotive businesses. Kek\u00e9n becomes part of the Consumer unit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2008, a new era in the history of Kek\u00e9n would begin with the modernization of infrastructure, as well as the expansion of its entire value chain in an initial 5-year project (2010-2015). Up to that time, Maxicarne stores had been strongly positioned in the states of the peninsula with 140 stores and export markets continued to be focused mainly on Japan and South Korea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The following are the most relevant chronological milestones of this growth stage:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n