Comestibles Aldor, a company that produces renowned sweets such as Frunas, Yogueta and Pin Pop, suspended its production due to the blockages. We spoke with Leonardo Aljure, general manager of the company, about the decision and the situation of the entrepreneurs in Valle del Cauca.
The Aldor company, recognized for producing the famous Frunas and the Yogueta and Pin Pop lollipops, was founded thirty years ago in Cali by the Aljure-Dorronsoro Family. The company, like others in Valle del Cauca, announced that it suspended its production because of the blockades, the shortage of supplies and the road damage caused by the days of the national strike.
However, it is important to mention that during the conference the Valle del Cauca has also been a space for protests, human rights abuses and in general violence unprecedented in recent history, something that has been increasing the indignation of citizens.
Also read: Each day of unemployment adds more than $ 100,000 million in losses in companies in Valle del Cauca
The special Valle del Cauca y Cauca Business Rhythm Survey evaluated the perception of 4,273 companies registered in the Chambers of Commerce to know the impact of the situation in the region. 26.9% of the companies in Valle del Cauca indicated that they are not operating, 63% said they were partially operating with an installed capacity of 39%. In Cali, 28% of the companies are not working.
We spoke with Leonardo Aljure, general manager of the company and son of the founder, to find out the reasons for the decision and the effects they have had due to the blockades in the region.
Why did you make the decision to suspend production?
It’s not just Aldor, it’s many companies. Supply chains have been hampered, most of the mills are stopped and there are many raw materials that are dammed in Buenaventura. In the case of Aldor, we have problems with coal, the boiler we use works with coal from Amaga. We have problems with sales. All the offices are stopped because we cannot take product out of the warehouses. Aldor is a large exporter and we have the main road artery in Colombia, which is to Buenaventura, blocked. Exports are suspended until the roads are opened. We decided to temporarily suspend production until the supply chains and the route to the port began to normalize.
Is the decision to suspend production just because of the locks?
What is happening is unemployment. The pandemic affected us, but the markets were normalizing. The year began with a revival in demand, but what is happening now is the blocked roads.
How long have they suspended production?
Follow the news of El Espectador on Google NewsWe stopped on April 28, anticipating the strike, thinking it was going to be one day, but we could not restart because the transport routes were blocked, the yards of the transport company buses and the city. We were able to restart the plant on May 13 because some parts of the city had been cleared, but we were forced on Saturday May 22 to suspend again because we do not have sugar and we have not been able to dispatch or deliver the product to customers. We have dammed a lot of merchandise that we cannot transport.
Specifically, what are its effects as a company?
Our industry depends on sugar and if there is no sugar we cannot produce because the mills are stopped and some packaging manufacturers are as well. We have warehouses full of finished product that we cannot transport to our clients in the interior of the country and neither to ports due to blockages on local roads and large arteries in cities. The blockades are also within the city so the employees could not go out to take transport routes. Today the issue has improved, but the city is blocked. The issue of the port of Buenaventura must be solved as soon as possible.
Between 1991 and 1996 they began to export to Panama, Ecuador and Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and the United States. Thirty years later to which countries do they export?
We export 50% of the production. They are exported through the port of Buenaventura to more than 40 countries. We have many markets in Central America, South America and in Africa. 100% of exports are affected by the blockades on the Cali-Buenaventura highway. Just like us are many companies of all sizes.
What will happen if the production of sweets known as Frunas or Yogueas is not working?
Unemployment is going to start to skyrocket. We have tried by all means to keep the jobs. We have not canceled a job, as we feel that we have a great responsibility to our workers, but no one can do the impossible.
We are respectful of peaceful protests, but we are entering into a damage for the country, for employment, for the little ones, for those who depend on their small businesses. Therefore, it is important that they know what is happening. We are an economy that is coming from a recovery process after a pandemic year and this can be much more complicated and expensive for the country than the pandemic itself.
What are the employees doing right now?
All employees are on vacation. We are anticipating vacations, like what we did in the pandemic. We are holding on and waiting for this to show signs of a return to normalcy. We have been with the business for a month. There are many companies in the same situation. We need the country to react because this can be a very serious damage for everyone.
We support the dialogue, the changes that need to be made, but we all lose if this continues. It will be a cost to all employees.
The company started in an artisan and family workshop. Currently, how many jobs does it generate?
We have 1,300 direct jobs.
Do you have a figure for the losses generated by the Aldor strike?
Paralyzing the company generates significant losses. Very large losses for the economy, employment, the Government because we all pay taxes. The great economists will have to calculate the damage of what is happening.
You mention the effects of the Valle del Cauca companies due to the blockades, but until negotiations take place, the strike will continue …
I am not a politician. There must be negotiation, dialogue, that is clear. Entrepreneurs are aware that we have to do our bit for the changes that are required to take place. We understand that people are afraid, that youth are without employment opportunities and this is everyone’s responsibility. Those policies are on the table: subsidies for employment, free education for strata one, two and three, solidarity income for vulnerable families. I think that good policies are being proposed so that people have opportunities and that dialogue has to take place, but ending the industry and the economy will be worse for everyone.
The economy is where wealth is generated so that it can be the basis for social development. To end the productive apparatus, the entrepreneurs, the merchants, with the entire business fabric (which is made up of hundreds of thousands of small entrepreneurs who have built their livelihoods with great effort over the years) is to end the possibility of continuing after a pandemic .
Returning to normality will be very difficult because we are going back decades in social development and poverty. It is clear that some changes are needed, but ending the economy is a mistake.
With the news of the temporary suspension of the plant, people became concerned about the Frunas. What will happen to that sweet?
Frunas is an 80-year-old brand. Aldor bought it 10 years ago from the Noel food industry, it is one of the first brands in Colombia, much loved that is in the hearts of Colombians. We sell it in Colombia and export it to various countries. We hope to continue with the brand for much longer, as it is part of Colombian culture and will continue to be part of Colombian families.
We are a family business that is turning 30 years old and we hope to continue for much longer. But I want to reiterate that it is not only Aldor, it is the region, our department, our country and there are thousands who are being harmed by the unemployment, which has been going on for a month. People see it as normal, but it is not. We hope it normalizes.
