The Royal Tapestry Factory of Madrid has hosted the DHL Atlas Export Awards gala, awards that recognize the work and effort made by Spanish SMEs to internationalize their products and services, and especially in the complex macroeconomic context current.
The Secretary of State for Commerce, Xiana Margarida Méndez, chaired the event, which was attended by numerous experts and professionals from the Spanish business sector and the most prominent exporting companies. All have witnessed the proclamation of the winners this year, namely: AJL Ophthalmic, ZayerFútbol Emotion and Oils Garcia De La Cruz.
During the act, Secretary of State for Trade He highlighted the recognition of these awards for the internationalization of Spanish companies with a special focus on SMEs. Xiana Méndez insisted on continuing to promote business internationalization and diversification as levers for growth in the face of current challenges in the global context. “From the Secretary of State for Commerce we continue to bet on internationalization and support our companies to go out to foreign markets. And this is so because we are convinced of the advantages of trade liberalization and opening up to the outside world”.
Miguel Borrás, CEO of DHL Express Spain, who celebrated during the ceremony the quality and the growing number of applications received this year, stressed the strength and resilience of Spanish exporting companies. “Despite the delicate situation that surrounds us, the forecasts for international trade for 2022 and 2023 are optimistic, with an increase faster than that observed in the previous decade. Spanish companies continue to show strong cross-border growth, which is expected to continue over the next year.”
The DHL Atlas 2021 Awards once again wanted to recognize those SMEs that, despite the difficult circumstances the world economy is going through, have taken high-value initiatives to expand their radius in international markets. 99 companies have applied with a total of 194 applications, which represents an increase of 55% over the previous year. Madrid (38 companies), the Basque Country (30), Navarra (29) and Catalonia (22) have been the communities with the greatest representation in the nominations for the awards, but there has been a large presence of companies from practically all the Autonomous Communities Spanish.
Also highlight the Special mention that the Mallorcan family business has received in this edition of the contest Camper, a world reference in footwear by masterfully combining tradition, quality, design and innovation. The DHL Atlas Export Awards 2021 Special Mention it is awarded to the Mallorcan company, with which DHL Express has collaborated for more than 20 years, for its outstanding digital progress. Both companies maintain a strong and continuous commitment to innovation, from manufacturing to arrival at the end user. Together, they pioneered national overnight deliveries. It is also one of the DHL Express clients that contracts a greater number of sustainable services framed in the DHL GoGreen program.
AJL Ophthalmic, DHL Atlas Grand Prize for Export 2021
As the winner of the DHL Atlas Grand Prize for Exports 2021, AJL Ophthalmic will be able to participate in a foreign trade mission organized by the Chamber of Commerce jointly defined by DHL Express and the company itself.
The rest of the DHL Atlas Export Awards have been distributed this year as follows in their three respective categories:
- The multi-sector industrial company Zayerspecialized in the development of milling machines and machining centers, has received the Award for the most innovative export. The jury has taken into special consideration his extensive list of awards and high number of patents, its commitment to innovation -to which it dedicates 5% of its investments and 10% of its staff-, and the fact that it has achieved that more than 50% of its turnover comes from exports, working with more than 60 countries. Founded in 1957, Zayer has a staff of more than 150 people working in more than 25,000 mtwo that make up its headquarters in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
- The Most Sustainable Export Award has been for Garcia De La Cruz Oils, family business that produces, manufactures and packs EVOO. Located in the Toledo municipality of Madridejos, the firm has been able to combine its 150 years of history with cutting-edge technology to produce sustainably and controlling this aspect throughout the process, from planting and harvesting to bottling and placing the product on the market. EVOO. This philosophy, together with its ability to reach more than 42 countries thanks to having developed its international activity for more than 20 years – an increase in its exports of 187% in the last 6 -, have been especially considered by the jury. In the last financial year, it managed more than 33.3 million liters of olive oil.
- Football Emotionhas received the Export Award through eCommerce thanks to its international growth, its commitment to omnichannel -with good results both in online commerce and in sales in physical stores-, and its initiatives in different social networks, with a digital brand generation strategy that has achieved a community of over 3 million members. The company, which has clearly opted for digitization as a clear competitive advantage to offer a 360º service, expects to reach 50 million euros this year, growing by nearly 50% compared to the previous year.