Javier Carnevali: How Procurement & Supply Drive the P&L
Episode 8 | Javier Carnevali & Ernesto Weissmann
Finance, Marketing, Procurement, Sales, HR—the list goes on. Every function makes hundreds of decisions each day, and each one affects results. Over the last seven episodes of Decision Leaders, Tandem spoke with directors and CEOs across industries to understand how they decide. Now, we’re going function by function to see how those decisions shape the business. We begin with Procurement & Supply, featuring Javier Carnevali, Head of the function at Grupo Herdez.
Behind the Scenes of Procurement
Javier knows this “quiet function” inside out—the one where alarms only sound when things go wrong, and if everything runs smoothly, no one notices. “Part of our job in Procurement is to stop being silent and make noise—and nothing is louder than showing the indicators that tie directly to value and to where the company wants to go,” says the executive who oversees over $700 million in annual purchasing at one of Mexico’s largest consumer goods companies and the No. 1 Mexican food brand in the United States.
At Tandem, we know this well: optimizing Procurement & Supply decisions is critical to the P&L. A 1% improvement in purchasing costs can have the same impact as 10% sales growth. And the role isn’t only about saving—it’s about making the best possible decisions in contexts with multiple economic variables, across suppliers and countries with different dynamics.
In this eighth episode of Decision Leaders, Ernesto Weissmann and Javier Carnevali discuss the decisions the function makes to deliver on three core factors: price, quality, and sustainability.
What Procurement Does: From Savings to Competitive Advantage
Ernesto Weissmann (EW): What does the Procurement function do? How is it different from other areas?
Javier Carnevali (JC): We’re responsible for sourcing and negotiating the key products and services the company needs to manufacture or transform—whatever the business may be. At Grupo Herdez, that means foods and beverages: turning inputs, packaging materials, and raw materials into finished products. Our responsibility is to negotiate with suppliers so we can secure those inputs and deliver to consumers a product that meets expectations on price, quality, and sustainability, among other factors.
As for what differentiates Procurement & Supply from other functions, it’s increasingly evident—especially after the pandemic, which was a real wake-up call—how important this role is and how much the business depends on doing it right.
We also have a direct influence on the P&L: every peso or dollar we save flows immediately to margin.
EW: How does Procurement create value for the company?
JC: For us, creating value means making our processes more efficient. If I increase efficiency, I’m creating value, reduce supply risk, I’m creating value. If I improve profitability through spend management, I’m creating value. Also, if I lower environmental impacts and support community well-being, I’m creating value. And if I accelerate innovation, I’m creating value.
Risk Management in Procurement
EW: How has risk management evolved over the past five years, especially after the pandemic?
JC: The pandemic was a wake-up call: it made us aware of the vulnerability of business processes we had taken for granted, as if they would always work perfectly. We saw unexpected events that threatened the entire operation—not only through price increases, but also through the very ability to keep products on shelf for consumers.
When you look at surveys of Chief Procurement Officers—there are several that ask leaders to rank their priorities—risk moved to the top after the pandemic. Savings, which used to lead, fell to second or third place, and sustainability also climbed.
That pushed us to ask: How do we become less vulnerable? In our case, we had the advantage of years working with strategic sourcing. When you implement those methodologies and the associated supplier-management processes, the relationship changes fundamentally: it stops being only about price and becomes a strategic partnership, where the supplier is an ally in delivering the company’s purpose.
There’s also anticipation. Technology and AI play a key role in detecting early signals and preventing risks before they disrupt operations.
Three Takeaways from Javier Carnevali: Map, Learn, Build Consensus
EW: Your three most relevant recommendations for other decision leaders?
JC: First: don’t underestimate the importance of understanding decisions deeply. Map them and make them visible. Once you do, the right questions emerge: Who decides? With what information? What should they be using? What are the potential consequences? That’s where you adjust what’s needed—and then you keep optimizing and balancing the model.
Second: a lesson from my father—own your mistakes. Don’t freeze out of fear of consequences. Deciding involves risk; what matters is learning fast and correcting the course.
Finally: some decisions require consensus. Have the humility to bring others in. That doesn’t make you less of a leader. It’s not that “Javier didn’t want to decide alone”; it’s that you shouldn’t decide alone when there are implications for other areas or external stakeholders. Ignoring them is a risk you can’t take.
What’s Next on Decision Leaders
This chapter marks the start of a journey to understand how each function really works and the mechanics behind business decisions. We’re moving from the “what” to the “how”: the criteria, routines, metrics, and trade-offs each function uses to turn decisions into results.
Next up: we dive into personal care—a category where speed, innovation, and omnichannel execution demand precision—to explore how portfolio, supply, marketing, and finance align when consumers change faster than plans.
After that, we’ll go behind the scenes with Human Resources, Innovation, Data, and other functions. We’ll keep opening doors, function by function, to show how the people who move the company forward make decisions. Because when each function decides better, the entire organization decides better.
In the meantime, we invite you to revisit our previous episode with Magda Ferreira Lamas, Managing Director of Mars LATAM, where we explored how to build organizations that make decisions with impact.