Consumers are other after the pandemic. Now buyers are looking for healthy products that are also more environmentally friendly. This led Valle Redondo, producer of California wine and Sonrisa juices, to make an investment of 160 million pesos.
Alejandro Cetto, general director of the group, details that a first part of this investment, of 100 million pesos, will be to build an additional plant to the one it already has in Aguascalientes.
This factory, which according to the projections of the company will start operations during the next year and will directly employ 50 people, will increase production by 70%, to 27,000 tons of ground and processed fruit per year. Of the total, 40% is destined as part of the raw material of its natural juice brands and the remaining 60% is for third parties, including its customers in the United States and Central American countries.
“Consumers are looking for products that are healthier and that also provide them with satisfaction. These ingredients (the pulp) is for our products and for some new developments that come in the future. Everything is based on these new trends ”, he points out.
Cetto details that, with the pandemic, its brands of alcoholic beverages, such as Cuatro Soles wine or California, benefited from sales in supermarkets, which managed to offset the drops in convenience stores and wholesalers. This division represents 45% of the company’s business.
Juices and nectars of small presentations, such as the 500 milliliter ones that are part of the children’s lunch boxes, however, suffered the effects of the confinement. Hence, the most demanded presentations were those of more than one liter, in response to the changes in mobility due to the pandemic.
With these investments, the company seeks to increase its profitability and give a boost to the primary industry, that is, the farmers of the region, with whom they acquire the fruits and vegetables that are processed in their plants in Chihuahua and Zacatecas.
Energy efficiency
With the second part of the investment, which is 60 million pesos, Valle Redondo will install an energy cogeneration plant also in Aguascalientes, with which it will supply 100% of the electrical energy and 50% of the water vapor that they require for your manufacturing processes.
“This plan is more long-term, we think about it from the beginning of 2023 because it is much more complex. This changes the rules of the company in the path of renewable energy. We are also going to convert our boilers to be suitable for natural gas ”, Cetto details.
The company already has a plant to treat wastewater, in which it filters the water it uses in all its production processes and, once it is drinkable, it is used internally. “We are on our way to being a more sustainable company. This helps us to reduce our carbon footprint and has to comply with the requirements to be considered as such ”, he declares.
