Introduction.

Companies that participate in the evaluation of their economic, environmental and social performance seek to increase transparency and traceability, maintain a better position and provide more security to their investors. This allows them to obtain recognition as sustainability leaders in indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index .

Objective.

To determine the relationship between the internationalization of a company and its approach to sustainability, based on a case analysis of the Colombian company Grupo Nutresa S.A. and its international referent Thai Union Group PCL, both included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Global Index 2018.

Materials and Methods.

The case study methodology is used to determine the relationship between the internationalization of the company and its approach to sustainability, based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of two cases.

Results.

Thai Union Group turns out to be the most sustainable company in the world in the food industry; additionally, it is analyzed that it has a significant percentage of its sales abroad, specialization of its food products and strong investment in innovation; which serve as a model for Grupo Nutresa S.A. International expansion can be seen as a motivation to implement sustainability strategies that give greater recognition and reputation to the organization in foreign countries.

Conclusions.

There is a need for Grupo Nutresa S.A. to specialize its business model and leverage its sales abroad, and a need to have a greater market penetration and take advantage of its 46 production plants.