CSM Ingredients CEO Aldo Uva shares his vision of the future

Years before he became CEO of Luxembourg-based global bakery supplier CSM Ingredients, Aldo Uva had what he describes as a “big aha” moment.

“I was looking at pictures of people having lunch in Italy, my home country, a hundred years ago,” he explains, “and what I was seeing on their table was exactly what I look at today when I go to the south of Italy – bread and pasta. I said to myself, ‘Guess what? Food is always going to be food and bread will always be bread, but what is going to change is the role of technology in formulating the bread to have different types of proteins, or combinations of fibres and proteins – and that’s what’s happening today.”

From the moment of the revelation, food became the main driver of Uva’s professional life, which hitherto had centred around domestic appliances. Following his new calling, he applied his business skills in senior positions with the likes of Sara Lee, Nestlé and Ferrero before taking on the role of chief executive at CSM Ingredients in April 2021.

Uva considers his current position as the “peak of his dream”, which makes perfect sense considering his “aha” moment all those years ago encompassed the realisation that “food innovation starts with the ingredients”. Innovation, as it happens, is high on the CEO’s list of priorities. He points to his track record at Ferrero, where he held the role of chief operating and open innovation officer. “I set up open innovation hubs because you don’t have to invent everything – you need to connect dots. A lot of companies focus on doing things only within their own realm and their own R&D groups, but if you open up and go outside, there are so many innovators out there that can completely change the way you conceive food. That can really help you to fast-forward your programmes.”

New beginning

The need for innovation reflects the changing nature of the ingredients market, and CSM itself has undergone significant change over the last year and a half. In fact, Uva’s appointment in April 2021 was made as the business entered a new era by becoming an independent company; before that, it been the ingredients division of CSM Bakery Solutions, but launched as a standalone entity when the wider company was acquired by an investment subsidiary of Investindustrial. (At the same time, former CSM stablemate Baker & Baker split from the group and was launched as an independent business.)

So, Uva found himself at the helm of a company that could fulfil his vision of “reinventing food starting from ingredients”. Employing more than 1,500 workers, the business serves customers in more than 100 countries, operating nine manufacturing facilities, nine product development centres and four innovation centres of excellence spread over the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. So, is the CEO happy with the progress the new company is making?

“Absolutely,” he insists. “The company has been moving ahead with what we call the core business – that is, for the bakery and confectionery industry. It’s been progressing well and, despite global supply problems and current instability in the system, we are expanding and averaging strong, significant growth versus last year in terms of volume.”

“When we talk about plant-based, the UK market is probably the most advanced in Europe”

So, from a sales point of view, Uva and his team are “very happy”. But another source of satisfaction was the February 2022 acquisition of Hi-Food, an Italian firm specialising in the research, development and production of functional ingredients with a focus on the plant-based and clean label industry.

“This was important,” says Uva, “because we can now approach the market by using the CSM core business – so with mixes, pre-mixes and preparations – but we can also approach the market with functional ingredients to help us enter new areas our traditional products wouldn’t reach. So, the combination of functional ingredients and mixes and preparations is creating a whole new customer proposition.” The CEO offers the example of replacing xanthan gum in a popular pastry mix with a natural substitute that offers “parity on price, cost in use and performance”.

UK focus

With CSM expanding into gluten-free and plant-based spaces too, “things are moving along very well”, says Uva. While the company is also moving into new geographical territories – including the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and a North American market entry planned – he is keen to emphasise the growing importance of the UK.

“Today, with the traditional business, the UK is in our top three, behind Germany and Italy,” he explains, “but it’s becoming more important and we are working on some new projects, revamping our R&D group and we have a Hi-Food presence in the UK. On top of that, when we talk about plant-based, the UK market is probably the most advanced in Europe. If you see how much shelf space is devoted to plant-based products versus other markets, it’s clear the UK is leading the trend.” It’s a similar story with salt and sugar reformulation, Uva adds.

“The reason we have these hubs is to understand how we can capture innovation outside and bring it in”

So, as the CEO observes, the UK offers CSM a reliable barometer for the key trends in bakery – and another one the company is keen to tap into is low glycaemic index (GI). “We are partnering with a couple of innovators who are working on interesting low-GI formulations,” Uva reveals. “It’s one of the trends emerging and will become more important over coming years.”

In an echo of the CEO’s time with Ferrero, CSM is also building open innovation hubs in specific areas of the world, including Singapore, Tel Aviv, New York and the Bay Area in the US, and Bremerhaven in Germany. “The reason we have these hubs is to understand how we can capture innovation outside and bring it in, like a bridge for solutions,” he explains.

Sustainable future

Innovation also forms the foundation for another of CSM’s top priorities going forward: sustainability. The company recently revealed a three-pronged strategy involving product, planet and people, with the goal of becoming ‘a net positive ingredient platform’.

As well as the company’s focus on plant-based and healthier formulations, the ‘product’ part of the plan will involve an onus on biodiversity and a reduction in packaging. As part of its ‘people’ brief, CSM will be working on community outreach, diversity, equity and inclusion, while the company’s ‘planet’ goals include the replacement of traditional electricity sources at its sites with renewables. Solar panels have already been installed at most CSM sites. The ultimate objective is to reach 100% renewable energy by 2025.

“It’s all about trying to do things that are less impactful on the environment and finding better and better solutions,” Uva explains. Harking back to his original “aha moment”, the CEO is confident that technology will point the way forward. “It is going to help the industry to scout new ingredients and new combinations of ingredients that can generate better food, and consumers will use technology to understand which food to eat at certain times,” he insists.

With the CEO calling technology “an obsession” of CSM, it seems as though Uva has found the ideal platform to fulfil his food vision.