{"id":310117,"date":"2022-04-12T17:01:38","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T20:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=310117"},"modified":"2022-04-13T17:26:52","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T20:26:52","slug":"lebanese-family-business-changes-towards-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/lebanese-family-business-changes-towards-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanese family business changes towards sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 In the early 20th<\/sup> century, the big journey of Lebanon\u2019s Bechara Nassar Frange was arriving from distant Lebanon to Brazil. Some years later, his son Jorge Nassar Frange took it upon himself the endeavor to turn the carpentry activity into a large business. Now, the new generations of the family carry forward the challenge of turning the furniture manufacturer JB Bechara<\/strong> \u2013 which is rooted in this family history and based in the city of Tanabi, S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 into a company aligned with the modern corporate principles of inclusion, diversity and sustainability.<\/p>\n

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Rodrigo comes from the financial market<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The furniture production is part of the family history from the arrival of the immigrant great-grandfather, who in his first years in Brazil made a living by doing carpentry work in Tanabi, to his son establishing a furniture plant in the city, which is now the medium-sized enterprise JB Bechara<\/a>. Being a family business marked by immigration, though, was not a barrier for it to change towards advanced governance practices in a internal process started seven years ago and led by current CEO Rodrigo Nassar Bautista.<\/p>\n

Coming from the financial market, the executive arrived in the company aiming to taking it to the next level. The process started little by little with small transformations like changing the logo and adopting new internal processes, and it was progressing towards a deeper renewal, which can now be seen in social, sustainability and diversity <\/strong>practices applied in the daily life. \u201cWe\u2019re rebuilding our DNA,\u201d Rodrigo explains.<\/p>\n

The administrative department of JB Bechara is composed by 66% of women, while production features a man manager and a woman manager, and the company makes sure to include homosexual, black and indigenous people in its staff. \u201cDiversity is what makes us rich,\u201d says Rodrigo. JB participates in the project Favela 3D<\/strong>, which aims to empower socially and financially low-income communities in Brazil, and it\u2019s responsible for conservating 840,000 meters of Atlantic Forest<\/strong> with its endangered species and pristine natural beauty.<\/p>\n

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The furniture is sold in brick-and-mortar and online outlets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the production process, the principles adopted translate into practices like using 100% recycled paper made and fully reforestation wood, treating and reusing paint sludge, using green plastic and turning sawdust into ecological briquettes. And JB Bechara is preparing a big launch in the market based on environmentally sound practices. But Rodrigo prefers not to tell it yet. \u201cIn 60 days we\u2019ll have a really cool new feature for sustainability,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The company, with around 100 employees, manufactures all its furniture in a plant in 18,000-square-meter plant in Tanabi. Around 28,000 pieces are manufactured every month, including desks, sideboards, cabinets, panels, cupboards, footstools, bed headboards, dressing tables, and bedside tables. The products are made in MDF and MDP. Two thousand points of sale sell the items across Brazill. E-commerce accounts for 40%.<\/p>\n

The company is also an exporter. Although it\u2019s not the focus of the business, JB Bechara is interested in opportunities that may arise overseas. Fifteen countries buy furniture by the company; most of the shipped volume goes to Latin America. Some go to the United States, Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. Exports account for 10% of the sales.<\/p>\n

From the immigrant to the new<\/strong><\/p>\n

JB Bechara is currently owned by the three grandchildren of the immigrant Bechara: Leila, Marcos and Isabel, children of founder Jorge. Although the business is still in family hands, it was established that, for professionalizing activities, each family nucleus would have only one representative in the administration. CEO Rodrigo, for example, represents his mother Leila in the company. \u201cWe have a corporate governance, an advisory board,\u201d he says on the professionalization of administration. Although their last name is different, thanks to their great-grandfather name, they are collectively known as the Becharas.<\/p>\n

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Lebanon’s Bechara and Joana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The great-grandfather is a source of pride for the family. Bechara used to work with sheep-farming in the Beqaa Valley <\/strong>and was just a 20-year-old boy when he moved to Brazil in search of a better life in 1921. His brother lived in S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 do Rio Preto. Bechara landed in the Port of Santos but had no money to go to the other city. \u201cHe walked during three months from Santos to Barretos,\u201d says Rodrigo. According to the executive, his great-grandfather fed only on bananas and water during the trip until he was picked up by his brother in Barretos.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn May 6, 1921, he arrived in Tanabi,\u201d says CEO and great-grandson Rodrigo. In Brazil, Bechara Nassar Frange married Lebanon\u2019s Joana Madi and had four children. Other descendants of the immigrant also own furniture business. JB Bechara was the company left by Bechara\u2019s son Jorge Nassar Frange, founder of the company, for his daughters. Their brother would later join the business.<\/p>\n

In changing the company, Rodrigo finds himself doing what he believes in as a human being in accordance with his family upbringing. He understands that this is yet another challenge in the life of the Becharas (or Nassar Franges), much like the ones his great-grandfather and grandfather faced. \u201cJB is not just a company in the world but a company for the world. I can\u2019t just think on profit; I have to use this giant framework to do what is right,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Owned by a Lebanese Brazilian family, Tanabi-based furniture business JB Bechara has changed its processes, prioritizing diversity, social action and sustainability. Furniture is its focus since the arrival of the immigrant great-grandparent in 1921.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1455,"featured_media":310120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91,3066],"tags":[30414,19930,30413,30410,41153,30415,30412,6637,30416,30417,30411],"class_list":{"0":"post-310117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"category-society","9":"tag-bechara-nassar-frange-en","10":"tag-family-business","11":"tag-furniture-bechara","12":"tag-furniture-manufacturer","13":"tag-imigracao-libanesa-en","14":"tag-jb-bechara-en","15":"tag-jb-bechara-furniture","16":"tag-lebanese-immigration","17":"tag-rodrigo-nassar-bautista-en","18":"tag-tanabi-en","19":"tag-tanabi-furniture-manufacturer"},"wps_subtitle":"Owned by a Lebanese Brazilian family, Tanabi-based furniture business JB Bechara has changed its processes, prioritizing diversity, social action and sustainability. Furniture is its focus since the arrival of the immigrant great-grandparent in 1921.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1455"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}