MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine traditional canned fisheries company taken over

Arcor, Argentina's main company in the food processing industry will be taking over a smaller competitor Benvenuto SAC., owner of La Campagnola and Nereida among other famous trade marks, was reported in the Argentine press.

Established almost a century ago, La Campagnola, is one of the most well-known and prestigious firms closely linked to the Argentine fisheries industry. Its annual turnover amounts to 50 million US dollars, of which 6 million are exports.

Benvenuto SAC was founded in 1912 by two Italian immigrants in Mar del Plata and currently has a 2,000-employee payroll, three industrial plants in Argentina and one in Brazil. Its production includes canned fish and shellfish, fruit, vegetables, marmalade, and jam.

According to the head of Cordoba-based company Arcor, Luis Pagani, the deal will be closed this week.

La Campagnola has a long tradition in the port City of Mar del Plata, where one of its four processing plants is located. The plant is famous for canned tuna, mackerel, squid, seafood stews, and clams, which are marketed under La Campagnola and Nereida trademarks. In the peak season the plant employs 250 workers.

Benvenuto SAC has another plant in Brazil and a fishing fleet of six vessels, five of which are freezer vessels.

Arcor was started in Cordoba in 1951 and has an annual turnover of 1.3 billion US dollars, of which 270 million exports. The group employs 17.500 people in 35 plants, 27 of them in Argentina and the rest in Brazil, Chile, and Peru, where it produces sweets, chocolates, jams, marmalades, cookies, and canned food, among other items.

By taking over La Campagnola, Arcor will be expanding into seafood production and marketing. Arcor won out over a Chilean group competing for the Mar del Plata based Benevenuto SAC. Last year Arcor associated with French Danone to make Bagley Latinamerica, the region's main cookies manufacturer with an annual turnover of 300 million US dollars. (FIS/MP).-