Artificial Intelligence Arrives in Vista Alegre

The new technology, which has generated much talk in recent months, is being used in a pilot plant “to test the quality of the products so that we can be more competent and more efficient,” explains Nuno Terras Marques, executive president of Vista Happy. “We are innovating and investing in this development to take advantage of new technologies and be more efficient, and I think this is one of the strong points,” he emphasizes.

While acknowledging that “today’s consumer is a different consumer” from two centuries ago, when Vista Alegre was born (it was founded in 1824), Nuno Terras Marques ensures that the company “works on two axes: one is keeping people, the other is energy efficiency”. He says that Vista Alegre is being rejuvenated “with younger people” who are undergoing a learning process “with people with more experience”, but that “the issue of energy costs is a concern for the group”. And he explains: “In recent years, energy costs have fluctuated greatly, whether due to the crisis or the war in Ukraine… The impact on overall costs is huge, whether it’s energy costs, with very high access rates”, all of which “has put us under a lot of pressure” in terms of cost structure, he notes. Having invested more than 10 million euros in energy efficiency, the company is also investing in “hybridization of stoves” in order to “reduce dependence on gas”, he concludes.