Lessons on innovation and leadership from Ramon Rivera

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Lessons on innovation and leadership from Ramon Rivera

23 Oct 2023

Joanie Spencer

Since 2008, Joanie Spencer has covered the retail and wholesale sides of the baking industry.
Serving associations such as the American Society of Baking (ASB) and BEMA, Joanie is also in demand as an industry presenter on bakery operations and trends. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Rockhurst University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

When she’s not running or playing soccer, Joanie spends her time with her husband and 11-year-old son.

HORSHAM, PA — By focusing on culture, operations and business, Ramon Rivera, senior VP of operations for Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU), has naturally enhanced his affinity for innovation and sharpened his eye for talent. These are important factors in maintaining operational efficiency while managing continued expansion. Known as an early adopter, Rivera’s own propensity for discovering technology — and applying it in areas like operations and product development — is a centrifugal force that drives his leadership and, consequently, his teams.

“You can’t compete if you don’t have the right skills and the right people on your team,” Rivera said. “The moment you stop learning new things, you’ll lose that competitive edge. And I have been lucky to learn from the best. I had the fortune to have great mentors like Don Lorenzo and Don Roberto Servitje and learn philosophy and management principles from them.”

He’s learned lessons not only from Don Lorenzo and Don Roberto but also worked several years with Daniel Servitje, Grupo Bimbo CEO, and a reliable group of peers and colleagues. Over the years, that mentorship has complemented continuing education, including advanced management courses from IPADE Business School in Mexico, supply chain management courses at IMD Business School in Switzerland, an MBA from Arizona State University and ITAM in Mexico, and bakery-specific training through the American Society of Baking (ASB) and the American Institute of Baking.

“I have a hunger to learn and try new things,” he said, noting that education must not be solely focused internally but should, in fact, begin with understanding consumer needs, whether it’s nutrition, consumption, inflation or something else.

Innovation is rooted in serving the consumer. It can’t be forced, nor should it be stifled.

That said, with innovation comes some level of risk that’s often most evident in terms of product development. Companies can invest a great deal in creating the next big product, but without consumer buy-in, there’s seemingly no reward. But, in Rivera’s view, the reward is not always tangible.

“You can put any number of products out in the market and have only a few of them become successful,” he said. “But it’s a matter of how you develop the innovation, how you run the process. There will be failures, but if you have a culture that enables people to fail fast, you can correct, realign the priorities and get to the next big thing. When that happens, when consumers adopt it, you have to make it available for everyone. That’s when a company becomes healthy and competitive.”

Rivera believes that innovation must be rooted in purpose. Product development for the sake of having a new item on the shelf is a meaningless endeavor. But a product with purpose can take on a life of its own. When that happens, innovation will follow.

This story has been adapted from the August | Q3 2023 issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.

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