AC Culinary Group invests $2M to expand operations in Bayamón
AC Culinary Group has revealed a $2 million plant expansion with the support of Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce’s (DDEC, in Spanish) Economic Incentives Fund.
The new facility in Minillas Industrial Park in Bayamón will increase production capacity and introduce new products under the Chef Piñeiro brand for the local market, as well as for export to the Caribbean, Central America and U.S. states, said DDEC Secretary Manuel Cidre during a tour of the operation.
Founded in 2007, the company produces sautéed aromatics, or sofritos, and ground garlic varieties under the Chef Piñeiro and El Isleño brands, along with private labels for supermarket chains and other independent entities.
With this expansion, the company seeks to increase its production and innovation, while preparing to further grow in the U.S. market and other Latin American countries such as Panama, owner Chef Enrique Piñeiro said.
“We currently employ 20 people, and we will generate 10 jobs with this expansion that will help us increase the import of our products to the United States, where there are Latinos and Puerto Ricans, in addition to reaching new markets in the near future,” Piñeiro stated. “We’re very happy with this new building where we will continue manufacturing the essential products in Puerto Rican cuisine.”
“AC Culinary is committed to local products and its people, and to prepare its products, they use ingredients from local farms, local printers and packaging material manufactured in Puerto Rico,” Piñero continued.
“The impact it generates on the local economy is important for AC Culinary Group and it reiterates it with its new factory in Bayamón,” he added.
