Suiza Dairy breaks ground on $30M Aguadilla plant
From left: Secretary of State Víctor Suárez, Francisco Pérez-Corujo of Suiza Dairy, and Jorge Rodríguez of Grupo Gloria during the groundbreaking ceremony of the future plant.
Suiza Dairy, owned by Grupo Gloria, announced the start of construction of Puerto Rico’s first plant dedicated exclusively to the production of “Extended Shelf Life” milk, to be located in Aguadilla. The project entails a $30 million private capital investment.
The construction of the state-of-the-art plant starts in 2017 and will be ready to operate in 2018.
Once completed, it will generate 30 direct jobs and help maintain more than 800 current jobs.
Aside from producing “Extended Shelf Life,” the plant will make omega milk with fiber and prebiotic, unique products to the market, company executives said.
“At Grupo Gloria we believe in in Puerto Rico and that is why we are here, supporting this activity, because we’re sure that the economy of the island will move forward,” said Jorge Rodríguez, executive chairman of Grupo Gloria.
“The construction and subsequent inauguration of these facilities will contribute to the development of both the dairy industry and manufacturing in Puerto Rico,” he said.
The plant is the result of a collaborative effort between Grupo Gloria, the Municipality of Aguadilla and the Agriculture Department, said Francisco Pérez-Corujo, general manager of Suiza Dairy.
“In this plant we will be producing unique products in the market, and we will have the opportunity to enter the export market,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ricky Castro, president of the Puerto Rico Marketing, Industry and Food Distribution Chamber, known as MIDA for its initials in Spanish, said the new plant will provide local consumers more options when it comes to fresh milk products.
