About

Alpina Productos Alimenticios’ legal team is headed by executive director Cristina De La Vega, who in addition to legal affairs is also in charge of corporate affairs, government relations, communications, sustainability, and regulatory affairs. The legal team is led by legal director and general counsel Claudia Caballero. There are also two legal managers; Ana María Duque who is legal marketing manager and Lina María Prieto, legal affairs manager. In total, the team includes 10 lawyers and one paralegal of diverse backgrounds and expertise, with women being seven out of the 11 members. The team has undergone important changes within the last two to four years in regards to working dynamics and involvement in company needs, which have resulted in a crucial shift in the way that other employees at Alpina perceive its role. Caballero identifies that now, ‘the legal department is not conceived as a support area, but rather, as a business-oriented value generation team whose inputs, knowledge, and background are determinant for strategic decisions. The role of the legal team is not handling and managing external lawyers, instead, it is directly involved in each project that the company performs. This participation is not limited to damage control or risk assessment, instead, it is determinant to enable business decisions in compliance with applicable regulations’. Last year, Alpina performed an important internal reorganisation, which concluded in the consolidation of a corporate group. The legal team was also part of the strategic planning and structuring of the acquisition of Don Maíz, an important food company in Colombia. It was also involved in the structuring and negotiation of the acquisition of Atlantic, a company specialised in the food services business, in a transaction that is pending to obtain the anti-trust clearance. Another major achievement of the legal team has been the important reduction of claims and lawsuits during 2017 and 2018 with no investigations and no penalties imposed to the company on environmental matters. The team was able to close, without the payment of any penalty, three claims and lawsuits regarding IP and consumer protection, and obtain a reduction of 66% of the number of claims and lawsuits on IP matters and consumer protection. The team also successfully negotiated and executed settlement agreements and cease and desist arrangements. Given that Alpina has affiliates in countries outside Colombia, this legal team is also responsible for legal support and advice in Venezuela and Ecuador. Furthermore, it carries out its services and assistance to Alpina’s operations in the US and Central America. The team is also responsible for legal affairs for the other companies that comprise Grupo Alpina. Caballero highlights the following: ‘What Alpina’s legal team has accomplished in the past few years is the result of the holistic view that all of its members bring to the table. If it weren’t for the multiple academic and professional backgrounds, Alpina’s legal affairs would be distant from the business core and decisions. However, being that this team has worked on understanding the business and its dynamics, and has become an enabler for strategic decisions, its role is now crucial inside the company’.