Venezuelan food company opens Puerto Rico plant
The company will produce pastries, frozen finished products, stuffed pasta and pasta sauces that will be sold in Puerto Rico as well as exported to other countries under the “La Buona Tavola” brand.
Industrias Alimenticias Alto de San Juan, owned by two Venezuelan companies, announced Monday plans to manufacture its products in Puerto Rico.
With an initial investment of $400,000, the company has committed to the creation of 200 jobs once the project is fully operational. This is the fourth industrial development project announced by Gov. Alejandro García-Padilla’s administration during the past two weeks.
The payroll associated with the new jobs reaches about $3 million annually, Gov. García-Padilla said during the ribbon-cutting at the plant.
Industrias Alimenticias Alto de San Juan is developing its manufacturing site in an industrial building owned by the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, located in the northern municipality of Luquillo. There, the company will produce high-quality pastries, frozen finished products, stuffed pasta and pasta sauces that will be sold in Puerto Rico as well as exported to other countries under the “La Buona Tavola” brand.
The company is owned by Diademas Unidas, C.A. and Inversiones T.P.12, C.A., whose investors have extensive experience in food production, company and government officials said during an event at the plant on Monday.
“Once again, this achievement demonstrates the results of the economic and industrial development plan to diversify the economy while protecting and expanding Puerto Rico’s manufacturing footprint,” said PRIDCO Executive Director Antonio Medina-Comas. “Alto de San Juan is another example of how this strategy continues to yield results, this time in the traditional segment of food manufacturing.”
PRIDCO is promoting this project with the incentives provided by Act 73 of 2008 for manufacturing activities.
“Beyond the economic incentives that make Puerto Rico an attractive and competitive destination, this development reaffirms another of our advantages which is the socio-political stability and bridge to the U.S. market that we provide,” Medina-Comas said.
Meanwhile, Alfredo Esposito, chairman of the board of directors of Industrias Alimenticias Alto de San Juan, said the company “has found an invaluable support from the government. This support helped us to achieve project viability and excellent economic conditions that made it successful from its inception.”
The food company’s arrival is one among several significant economic development projects announced over the last two weeks, including the expansions of Atento, a business process outsourcing center in Caguas, Wovenware, a software development company in Santurce, and the arrival of textile manufacturing company Raine in Mayagüez.
