A Coffee with Eduardo Cornago Égido, Operations Director at Gin Puerto de Indias

L&A: Eduardo, you have built your career leading operations and supply chains in highly dynamic sectors such as food and beverages. What key lessons have accompanied you on your journey to becoming Operations Director at Puerto de Indias?

Eduardo: Throughout my career I have had the opportunity to work in very demanding sectors, with high turnover, strong cost pressure and a great sensitivity to service levels. If I had to summarise the key lessons, I would highlight three.

The first is that operations only work well when they are aligned with the business. It is not about optimising for the sake of optimising, but about understanding what the market needs and building processes that can support it reliably.

The second lesson is the importance of people. You may have very sophisticated technology, procedures and KPIs, but without committed teams with sound judgement, the supply chain suffers. Operations are largely about daily execution and constant decision-making, and for that the team is the key factor.

The third is accepting that continuous improvement is not a project; it is a way of working. Dynamic environments force you to question processes, learn from mistakes and adapt quickly. That mindset has accompanied me to Puerto de Indias and is what I try to instil today across the entire Operations area.

L&A: Puerto de Indias has experienced extraordinary growth, becoming one of the leading brands in the spirits sector. From an operational perspective, how do you manage such rapid evolution without losing efficiency, quality or responsiveness?

Eduardo: From an operational standpoint, such rapid growth is only sustainable if it is managed with anticipation, method and the right partners. At Puerto de Indias we have been clear from the outset that growth could not come at the expense of losing control, quality or service.

The key has been scaling processes rather than improvising solutions. That means professionalising planning, strengthening demand management and providing the operation with structures capable of absorbing peaks in activity without putting the system under strain.

It has also been essential to invest in visibility and coordination between departments. Operations cannot work in isolation from Sales, Marketing or Finance. Shared decision-making based on data has been crucial to maintaining efficiency.

Finally, we have focused heavily on industrial and logistics robustness: adequate capacity, operational flexibility and reliable partners. The goal is not simply to produce more, but to respond better. Growing quickly is a challenge; growing well is a responsibility.

L&A: The spirits sector requires precision, traceability and excellence in production. What role do digitalisation, automation and continuous improvement play today in the company’s operational strategy?

Eduardo: In a sector such as spirits, digitalisation and automation are not optional; they are key tools for ensuring control and reliability. At Puerto de Indias we see them as enablers of operations, not as an end in themselves.

Digitalisation allows us to anticipate: improving demand forecasting, planning with greater accuracy and reducing uncertainty in decision-making. This translates into fewer stockouts, fewer urgent situations and more efficient use of resources.

Automation, particularly in the logistics and industrial environment, helps us gain consistency, improve efficiency and productivity, reduce errors and enhance traceability — something critical in our sector.

All of this is supported by a very clear culture of continuous improvement. Analysing data, reviewing processes and correcting deviations are part of the daily routine. Technology accelerates that journey, but the real value lies in how you integrate it into the way teams work.