CEO Spotlight: Jack Landsmanas and Corporativo Kosmos’s Pledge to Sustainable Practices

If you’re a citizen of Mexico, chances are you’re familiar with the country’s leading foodservice provider, Corporativo Kosmos. Led by passionate businessman and entrepreneur Jack Landsmanas, the corporation—with three service-based companies under its authority – La Cosmopolitana, Serel, and Kol Tov—provides food to a vast amount of Mexican citizens every day!

Now, Corporativo Kosmos is making headlines for its pledge to sustainability.

Corporativo Kosmos: A Brief History

Corporativo Kosmos was founded by Jack Landsmanas’s grandfather, Don Pablo Landsmanas. After arriving to Mexico in 1959 from Lithuania, Pablo wanted to make a difference. He went to work learning about the food service industry and started a small butcher shop called La Modelo.

Through years of hard-work and dedication, La Modelo became Corporativo Kosmos. And along the way, Pablo Landsmanas became known for his philanthropically-minded business mentality. He garnered great respect from those he served, and eventually passed control of the company over to his grandson.

Above all else, Jack Landsmanas has embodied the altruistic principles of his grandfather in the way he manages Corporativo Kosmos. The corporation frequently partners with a foundation that the younger Landsmanas started in honor of his grandfather (the Pablo Landsmanas Foundation) to support high-needs areas and groups of people across the country.

The Case for Sustainability

Consider this:

1. Earth’s temperature is rising at an alarming rate (up 1.1° C since the Industrial Revolution – though it may not seem like much, it’s cause for concern).
2. Due to rising temperatures, heavy rains, landslides, and floods are becoming more common in certain areas of the world.
3. Equally rising sea levels (often a result of thawing glaciers) will eventually force people to leave their homes.

So, how can big businesses help curtail climate change and environmental abuse?

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

On September 15, 2015, several world leaders created a list of global goals for eliminating poverty and better protecting the environment. Each of these goals has its own list of measurable objectives, with a targeted fifteen year timeline for goal completion.

Since the development of this sustainability agenda, many local and state governments, civil organizations, and private sector companies have launched initiatives of their own to support the cause.

Corporativo Kosmos is no different, with Jack Landsmanas leading the charge toward better environmental safety practices and stability. Because the foodservice industry has a direct impact on the feeding of human beings (and, as a result, the Earth’s resources), it is imperative that it takes responsibility for developing sustainable practices.

Here are four SDGs that Jack Landsmanas is focused on:

1. Zero hunger
   A primary objective across the world is to eradicate hunger and give people equal access to healthy food sources, while also ensuring that food production systems operate in a safe and sustainable fashion.
   Ways to accomplish this are by working only with ethical suppliers, ensuring that production processes and finished products meet high-quality and safety standards, and implementing new technology to reduce waste.
2. Clean water and sanitation
   Water is crucial to the food industry. Raw materials are run multiple times through water, and it’s also used to maintain any and all equipment used for production processes. As such, water savings are a priority. Corporativo Kosmos employs both closed-circuit water systems and vacuum evaporation to achieve this. A closed-circuit water system involves limiting water’s exposure to air. This decreases the chances of contamination and also maintains water levels. Vacuum evaporation helps increase the amount of time food can be safely stored.
3. Responsible production/consumption
   Waste minimization and limiting natural resource consumption are two main components of these SDGs. This means investing in renewable energy sources, limiting waste, and looking for ways to use recyclable materials throughout production.
4. Weather
   Last but not least, Corporativo Kosmos is using its large platform to raise awareness of global warming and what companies like itself can do to minimize hazardous effects on the environment that are born from production and manufacturing processes.

Why Practice Sustainability?

Jack Landsmanas believes Corporativo Kosmos’s mission travels far beyond simple food service. If Mexico’s leading food provider is to truly make an impact each day, that requires the corporation’s leaders to look at how its practices and approaches affect the world.

As Landsmanas will tell you, there are plenty of reasons to practice sustainability. Doing so helps improve a country’s social and environmental well-being, as well as boosting economic wellness. Moreover, being a sustainable company brings a myriad of advantages:

1. Brand reputation
   Having a positive impact beyond the company’s main product(s) or service(s) speaks volumes to the leadership, goals, and missions of said company. Achieving sustainable practices can only bolster a company’s reputation and distinguish it from competitors who are failing to do the same.
2. Cost savings
   Not only does implementing sustainable practices help the environment, but also the company! Too many organizations waste money on practices built off “use” rather than “savings.” In constructing sustainable best practices for daily production, companies can save money moving forward.
3. Compliance
   Sustainability brings its own platter full of rules and certifications. If a company stays up-to-date with these, it can curtail any future complications. Moreover, sustainable companies are recognized for such valor. In 2019, Corporativo Kosmos had the privilege of being named a Socially Responsible Company. Presented by the Mexican Center for Philanthropy, the award is one of the most prestigious honors in sustainability circles. No, it’s not all about recognition. Jack Landsmanas will be the first one to tell you that. However, there’s nothing wrong with being known as a company that consistently does good for the world. An award from the Mexican Center for Philanthropy helps with that.
4. Job retention and a growing talent pool
   You know who wants to work for an environmentally conscious and world-renown company? Everyone! Satisfying sustainable efforts and showing employees that you care keeps them around. It also attracts some of the best and brightest itching to work for an equally respectable company.

Sustainability in Action: The Pablo Landsmanas Foundation

In 2016, Jack Landsmanas founded the Pablo Landsmanas Foundation in honor of his grandfather. The foundation rests upon four pillars: feeding, health, education, and sustainable development.

Today, the Pablo Landsmanas Foundation works closely with Corporativo Kosmos to fulfill these pillars and promote social awareness and environmental stability. Notable achievements include heavy support for areas affected by natural disasters, over 450,000 meals delivered monthly to high-needs groups and volunteer organizations, assistance with reintroducing inmates to society and providing aid to various medical interventions around Mexico.

In particular, the Pablo Landsmanas Foundation is well on its way to helping achieve zero hunger, and it continues to be a welcoming and well-known presence across the country.

Moving Forward

Like most things in life, climate change doesn’t come with a simple solution. More companies will need to follow the lead of Corporativo Kosmos in solidifying measures to promote sustainability and social well-being.

Through concerted efforts from these companies and continued perseverance from global leaders, the most recent SDGs can be met. For Jack Landsmanas, it’s a matter of personal and professional integrity, legacy, and simply asking oneself: What world do you want to live in tomorrow?

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