A growing global agriculture company attributes keeping steadfast to its values as key to success. Here's what they've learned from years of putting people first.

Food company Viru has grown steadily from its founding in Peru in 1994 — adding frozen food and produce to its line of offerings before venturing into new realms such as sauces, ready-made meals and breaded lines. In the past four years, Viru Group’s production volume has grown at a rate of 5x, all while the company has branched into new countries like Spain. 

In September 2023, Viru Group grew yet again, this time into a different realm — the U.S. market — with the acquisition of Watsonville, California-based Superior Foods International, LLC, a company of 75 employees with a 40-year legacy.

“Our mission, core values, and dedication to our current partners is unwavering,” wrote Superior Foods’ Managing Director, Marco Cruz, at the time. 

All the while, Viru executives said they’ve kept employee well-being and company culture top of mind — a strategy that has paid off since 2018, when it won its first Best Place to Work award, an honor they’ve won annually since. In 2024, the company was awarded the highest honor in the category when it earned number one on the list of Best Places to Work in Peru. 

Viru aims to keep these values at the forefront through its acquisition of Superior Foods. Here are five tips for any growing food business from Viru CEO Yoselyn Malamud. 

1 - Cultivate company culture from the top and across all levels

Viru CEO Yoselyn Malamud believes that no company can succeed without the best people. Superior Foods shares this belief.

“What stands out most to me about the alignment between our companies is that we both independently value our team as our greatest asset,” Kira Halpern, Superior Foods’ Director of Social Impact and Communications, said. 

Superior operates with a set of six values — trust, reliability, integrity, food safety, innovation and community — at the fore. Halpern said these values permeate throughout all ranks of the company. Values are “led from the top,” she said, but are “ingrained in basically everything we do.”

2 - Continually reassess company culture to improve employees’ quality of life

Viru is dedicated to building its company culture in alignment with employees. The company values – open door communication, respect, honesty, integrity, loyalty, and commitment – were recently reassessed along with the mission, vision, and purpose. This set of shared beliefs unites the team behind Viru’s purpose to improve lives by making healthier food affordable, today and for future generations.

Halpern adds that Superior’s set of six core values never lie dormant — they are routinely monitored and upheld throughout the company. “Our policies and practices are reviewed regularly by leadership,” Halpern said, “just to make sure they still uphold our values, and that we're still living up to those values.” Superior solicits employee feedback throughout the year and with a formal annual review process.

3 - Be uncompromising on human rights standards when partnering in other markets

Viru not only keeps employee well-being top of mind in its own operations, but exclusively seeks out partners that share the same mindset. The company has partnered with organizations across the world — including in Spain and the U.S. — and believes the best collaborations are built on the highest set of shared standards. 

Viru is accredited by a range of social responsibility organizations, including Asociación de Buenos Empleadores, which audits for employee working conditions; Fairtrade, which monitors the supply chain; and the International Labour Organization, which sets global working standards. 

4 - Grow with value-aligned partners 

Viru refuses to partner with any company that fails to uphold the highest standards for their employees. That’s why the acquisition of Superior last year was such a strong fit.

“When initially evaluating the acquisition of Superior, we were impressed by how well our values and missions matched,” noted Malamud. “This gave us confidence in having a strong foundation for our partnership,” she added.

“As an employee, I feel we treat our team as people first and employees second,” said Halpern. While it sounds like a simple attitude, this fosters an internal community built on trust where employees are supported to be their best in the office and at home.

5 - Think big, and small: No employee program goes unnoticed

Viru and Superior both maintain employee benefits programs which make them highly competitive within their markets. In Peru, Viru offers its employees daycare and summer education programs, scholarships, medical campaigns , and home building loans. All these programs make tangible differences in the lives of their staff — the people who make the company what it is.

Superior offers its staff something similar: flexible work schedules, competitive benefits, 40 hours of paid volunteer time off annually, team events, and a monthly frozen food stipend. The strong employee-driven community engagement doesn’t go unnoticed either. In 2023, Superior Foods was recognized with the Impact Award from Progressive Grocer in the Community Service/Local Impact category. 

To Halpern, the impact of these programs and Superior’s employee-forward company culture is felt through company tenure. The average Superior Foods employee stays for eight years while many have been there for over 20 or 30 years. “In this day and age, that's pretty uncommon, especially for a team of 75,” Halpern adds.

Rooted in aligned values and company culture, Viru Group will continue to grow and prioritize their employees while keeping these five lessons top of mind.