CONTRAMAESTRE, Santiago de Cuba. — Defined as fundamental to development, the priority given in Cuba to foreign investment is exemplified in the new company Tropical Contramaestre SA, dedicated to the production and processing of fruit, vegetables and other agricultural lines for the tourist industry, the domestic market, and export.
Established in a former citrus combine in this municipality, located 77 kilometers west of the provincial capital, the company intends to become one of the most prosperous and efficient of its kind, before the end of the year, through an investment valued at eight million pesos, which includes both the technological process and expanded agricultural production.
Thus the modern technology to be installed will reinforce the collective’s longstanding fruit processing tradition, recognized for the quality of its concentrated citrus juice and essential oils exported to Europe. After the availability of citrus was reduced, due to diseased groves, the company managed to diversify productions, expanding to 70 different lines.
Now there is talk of marketing 300, hence during a visit last March, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez urged management and workers to accelerate the project, close cycles with productive chains, explore markets, substitute imports, and lay the foundations to make the municipality a productive pole for export.
POTENTIAL EMPORIUM
Convinced of the company’s great potential, its president and representative of the Panamanian shareholder Tropical Food Investment Caribbean SA, Luigi Crisci, told Granma that the choice of Contramaestre, was related to its natural conditions, much like those of the Nile River Valley, with the Cauto river and surrounding fertile land, as well as the industriousness and the rich farming traditions of the population.
"We know," he said, "that very good things are done in the region, and in tours with our specialists visiting various agricultural entities, we learned of the positive results that are achieved despite limited resources, giving us an idea of how much we can accomplish with good seeds, cultivation technique, and advanced technology.”
In addition to the project here, financing from abroad will be extended to develop cultivation of fruit, vegetables, grains, and more by producers across Santiago, and in other provinces from Guantanamo to Camaguey, who will be contracted to provide a stable supply of high quality raw material.
"We are going to export wonders," Crisci said, "countless things from agriculture, so as not to lose a single tamarind, or one of those aromatic fruits never seen in Europe, while we will use traditional recipes from popular cuisine, from women who tell us: "Look, try this, I made it," and you will see that it is something exquisite from Cuba’s Oriente.
"It will not be easy," he said, "because the market is saturated with products and we have packaging problems, there is a tendency to add too much sugar, methodologies and certifications to meet international standards to resolve, but we will achieve it, in order to compete with anyone and respond to the attention given to us by the Cuban government.”
Although this is their first productive project in Cuba, the international firm is well known here as a technology provider, having worked with the successful Ceballos combine in Ciego de Ávila, companies on the Isle of Youth and in Camagüey, as well as coconut processors in Baracoa, the Santiago Ponupo plant, and small industries throughout the nation.
NATIONAL IMPACT
Through the heat of summer, staff here led by company vice president, Jorge Cabrera Naranjo, have not enjoyed any rest, focused on preparing the bays where production lines will be installed, repairing roofs, renovating warehouses, and making all the changes required to meet this new challenge.
Cabrera, an expert in organic chemistry and tropical fruit cultivation has been responsible for the company’s diversification over the years, states that the project’s impact for the country will be significant, expanding value-added exports that increase income in hard currency, developing productive chains with tourism and other sectors, and offering the population products of proven quality.
“From the two fruit and citrus processing lines we have now – which we will continue to improve - we will eventually expand to 15, of greater productivity and efficiency, with very economical, latest generation engines, providing remarkable energy and water savings. Their assembly is not complicated and they should be in operation by the end of the year.
“In the future, let's say tomato, of which we were processing 800 tons… By supporting producers with agricultural implements, optimal seeds, fertilizer, irrigation systems, insecticides and other inputs, growing six high yield varieties, we estimate handling 22,000 tons for the preparation of 32 types of sauces,” Cabrera explained.
These are projected to eventually become leading products, undoubtedly along with preserves of mango, loquat, zapote (mamey), anon, tamarind, and other exotic fruits, some of which will be machine-peeled with specially designed equipment. Also to be upgraded is machinery used to package juice, nectar, chopped and glazed fruit, in different formats.
The company’s broad product portfolio will also include fresh and chopped packaged vegetables, olive combinations, mayonnaise, coffee, cocoa, various creams, coconut water, corn, rice, and pre-cooked beans, presented, as in the case of fruit, in imported glass jars for export, and in other types of packaging for the domestic market.
With the development of agriculture in the region and the entry into full operation of this project of unquestionable socio-economic value, the current workforce of 165 will be expanded to 195, and very soon, Cabrera insisted, we will be talking about the emergence of the new joint enterprise Tropical Contramaestre S.A. as a turning point.
FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN FIGURES
• 12 new businesses with foreign capital approved in the first half of 2019
• 1,485,764,000 dollars invested, despite the pressures to which the island has been subjected, demonstrating confidence in our country
• 5 approved extensions for projects already established in the country
• 55,626,000 dollars involved in these extensions, while other projects are being promoted in sectors such as poultry and pork production, in which eight new projects are underway
SPECIFICATIONS:
• The country prioritizes investment to support development, but such projects must guarantee the amortization of financing with earnings.
• Tourism and foreign investment are two sectors with a favorable impact on the economy, both impacted by the U.S. blockade which the current administration is tightening. The challenge is to continue developing, regardless of these pressures.
