Mexico City-based Grupo Bimbo, the largest bakery company in the Americas, garnered the Whole Grains Council’s top award at our recent Whole Grains: The New Norm conference in Portland, Oregon.

The 2011 Global Award was presented to Grupo Bimbo’s Alejandra Inclan Ortiz, Corporate R&D Manager, for the company’s pioneering work in bringing more whole grains to Central and South America – and now to China.

Over the past three years, Bimbo has worked with WGC staff to translate the Whole Grain Stamp graphic into Spanish, Portuguese (for Brazil), and Mandarin (for China). Country by country, Bimbo’s team, led by Patricia Villalobos Oliver, has met with regulators and health authorities from Guatemala to Argentina to explain the importance of whole grain, and to tailor their products to local tastes and regulations.

From our perspective in the U.S., where whole grains are rapidly becoming the new norm, it’s difficult to imagine the full extent of the challenges Grupo Bimbo has overcome in their march from country to country. In many Latin American countries, their efforts were the first to introduce the concept of whole grain and the Whole Grain Stamp locally. That’s what earned the company the 2011 Global Award, shown here.

“The term whole grain is relatively new and its definition is still not present in many regulations,” explained Alejandra in her presentation to the conference, “So there is not a global standard for whole grain ingredients such as whole wheat flour.”

No other company has worked as hard to promote whole grains worldwide. Since 2008, Kara and I have fielded a constant stream of emails from Alejandra, as she has collaborated with us to clarify supply chain issues in an environment where the definition of “whole wheat flour” varies from nation to nation. Yet always, Bimbo staff has been tireless in making sure their products conform to WGC standards, in order to bear the Stamp.

We especially appreciate that Bimbo has created websites explaining the health benefits of whole grains, tailored to local populations, and has aired TV and radio spots and carried out various other marketing programs. We can’t be everywhere, spreading the word about whole grains, but with partners like Grupo Bimbo, the reach of the Whole Grains Council goes a whole lot farther. Congratulations to Grupo Bimbo for promising that their whole grain project will continue to be a main strategy of the company for many years to come! (Cindy)