“The NÓS Group was created with the ambition of leading the Brazilian convenience and proximity market and being recognized as the most reliable chain in the market, while also becoming a strong employer brand with the potential to generate thousands of jobs. We will deliver convenience, agility and speed—qualities that result in a valuable asset: time. We want to be closer to and simplify the routine of our customers and enable them to have more time to be with the people they love and do what they like most,” explained Rodrigo Patuzzo, CEO of the NÓS Group.

A central part of the business growth strategy, the gas station convenience market has high growth potential in Brazil, a country with one of the lowest penetration rates in the world—under 20%. As a comparison, in the neighboring country of Argentina, 75% of gas stations have convenience stores; in countries like the United States and Australia, this percentage exceeds 80%, while in Germany practically all gas stations have convenience stores.

With an eye on this sector, in recent years Raízen has developed a new generation of Shell Select stores, with robust investments aimed at simplifying operations, lowering operating costs and providing customers with a more intuitive experience. This move resulted in an average increase in sales of approximately 20% compared to the previous format. Today, the chain has 1,070 stores across the country.

With this joint venture, the Shell Select brand will further strengthen the relationship with its franchisees by providing better offers, greater support from consultants to the stores and the implementation of best practices. Convenience stores will continue to be exclusively located at Shell gas stations and to operate under a franchise, self-management model. The first Shell Select store under NÓS Group operation opened in early June in Campinas, in the interior of São Paulo.

Entering the proximity segment in Brazil through the OXXO brand, the company plans to open the doors of its first establishment in October, in downtown Campinas. With a more competitive structure and offers, consumers can purchase everyday baked goods, produce, candy, meats, pet care products, beverages, and grocery and cleaning items with the convenience of locations close to their homes and in places of high foot traffic, such as subways and bus terminals. The NÓS Group plans to open 500 points of sale in the next three years, including both Shell Select and OXXO stores.

The current environment of the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated operating processes to meet the new needs, habits and behaviors of customers, which have become increasingly digital. All new businesses are structured with connected systems, delivery services and a broad digital ecosystem. The expansion of chain stores will also drive the creation of new jobs at a time of economic and job market recovery, after a time of social isolation. Before the end of 2020, 500 professionals are expected to be hired to work in the group’s operations and points of sale. The company estimates that thousands of new jobs will be created in the coming years.

OXXO, a convenience and proximity brand created by Femsa Comercio in 1978, is one of the largest retailers in the world, with more than 18,000 stores in Latin America. The chain stands out for its excellence in execution, strong and consistent expansion strategy, professionalism in the operation of stores and customer recognition. In 2017, Interbrand, an international brand consultant firm, named OXXO the most valuable retail brand in the Mexican market.

We are Raízen - an integrated energy company that is a benchmark in biofuels. We operate throughout the sugarcane production chain, up to fuel commercialization, logistics and distribution. Our energy is essential to move people and leverage businesses. Therefore, in addition to delivering energy that the market needs today, we invest in solutions that contribute to the global energy transition agenda in a gradual and sustainable manner. We are leaders in the production of biofuels and bioelectricity from sugarcane, and we continue to invest to expand our portfolio of renewable energy sources, including second-generation ethanol (E2G), biogas, biomass and solar energy generation.

With a team of 29,000 employees, we operate 26 sugar, ethanol and bioenergy production units—and a 2G ethanol plant—with an installed capacity for processing 73 million tons of sugarcane, which in the 2019-2019 crop year produced approximately 2.5 billion liters of ethanol and 3.8 million tons of sugar. We have 860,000 hectares of agricultural areas cultivated with state-of-the-art technology, with 100% mechanized harvesting. We have an installed capacity for energy generation of approximately 1GW and, in the last harvest, produced 2.1 TWh of electrical energy from sugarcane biomass. In the 2019-2020 crop year, we sold approximately 26.9 TWh of energy in the free energy market through a joint venture with WX Energy, reinforcing our trading activities in this market.

With a network of more than 7,300 Shell gas stations in Brazil and Argentina, we have presence and proximity to deliver the energy that our customers need. And through the NÓS Group (joint venture with Femsa), we operate in retail with more than 1,000 Shell Select convenience stores in gas stations and with OXXO proximity stores, an established brand in Latin America. In the B2B and retail segments, in the 2019-2020 cycle, we sold approximately 27.1 billion liters of fuel in all regions of Brazil through 67 airport supply bases and 67 fuel distribution terminals. In Argentina, where we have operated under the Shell brand since 2018, in the last cycle we sold 6.1 billion liters of fuel and maintained a network of approximately 730 Shell stations, a refinery, a lubricant plant, four land terminals and two supply bases at airports.

We are one the largest companies in Brazil in terms of revenue (R$ 120.6 billion in the 2019-2020 crop year). We create jobs and income, thereby boosting the economy, and invest in social responsibility initiatives, supporting several projects. Through the Raízen Foundation, we offer young people complementary education, encouraging people in situations of social vulnerability to discover themselves professionally and lead their own paths. We also work on developing cooperation with communities surrounding our operations; through this effort, in the 2019-2020 crop year we benefited more than 1,700 students and another 3 million people by providing professional training, education and citizenship awareness.