Reybanpac Shares Its Vision on Sustainable Logistics and Operations Alongside Partner Companies

The Pasos con Futuro (Spanish for Steps with Future) business alliance, comprising Reybanpac, Banco Guayaquil, Grupo Difare, Duragas Abastible, and Veolia, held a new panel discussion focused on the role of sustainability in logistics and business operations. The event brought together representatives from the partner companies, who shared best practices, lessons learned, and challenges involved in the transition toward more responsible and efficient operating models.

One of the main conclusions of the panel, held at Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo (UEES), was that incorporating sustainability criteria into business operations is no longer optional, but essential to generating efficiencies, optimizing processes, and contributing to employee well-being.

In this context, Enrique Maldonado, Fruit Purchasing Manager at Reybanpac, explained the logistical complexity of the banana industry: “We’re always in a race against time. A failure in the supply chain can immediately result in food waste.”

Reybanpac exports nearly 500 containers per week and continuously works to optimize cargo capacity, packaging, and the cold chain in order to reduce losses and strengthen the economic and environmental sustainability of its operations.

“By becoming more efficient, we’re reducing our environmental footprint,” Maldonado said. He also highlighted Reybanpac’s efforts to support partner fruit producers in meeting international sustainability and traceability standards.

José Fernando Sabando, Deputy Manager of Supply, Logistics and Transformation at Duragas Abastible, shared how the company is incorporating artificial intelligence into route planning. The technology is aimed at strengthening logistics decision-making, optimizing route planning, and supporting increasingly efficient operations by integrating innovation and technology into the management.

During the panel, Luis Eduardo Fabre, Head of the Mechatronics Department at Grupo Difare, highlighted the new processes implemented at the company’s distribution center. Difare has installed 2 MWp of solar panels, enabling it to power its operations during peak hours while feeding excess energy into the national grid. Fabre also highlighted the technological transition toward lithium-ion batteries for forklifts as part of the company’s efforts to modernize and improve the efficiency of its internal processes.

For his part, Jaime Ruiz, Operations Manager at Veolia Ecuador, emphasized that sustainability goes beyond environmental considerations and also encompasses the protection of people’s health and well-being. Veolia provides hospital waste collection services nationwide, a critical issue for public health that requires specialized processes for proper management. In this context, Ruiz noted that informality remains a challenge in hazardous waste management, reinforcing the importance of promoting technical, responsible, and traceable operations that help reduce risks to both people and the environment.

The speakers agreed that sustainability should no longer be viewed as an expense, but rather as a strategic investment that improves efficiency, strengthens competitiveness, and creates social value.

Through the Pasos con Futuro alliance, Reybanpac reaffirms its commitment to sharing best practices and encouraging more companies to strengthen their operations and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).