U.S. headquartered Lamb Weston is making significant strides in constructing a big potato processing plant with an investment of $250 million in Argentina, according to a news report by Hector Huergo for Clarin.
Located on a 19-hectare property in the Mar del Plata Industrial Park, the construction of the new plant began a year ago and is progressing on schedule. During a ceremony held on Thursday at the plant’s construction site, some of the company’s executives explained the business fundamentals.
The entire production of the plant will be earmarked for the international market, with a focus on direct shipment from the nearby port of Mar del Plata, according to Hector Huergo’s news report.
According to Gerardo Scheufler, Lamb Weston’s General Director of Supply Chain, the location of the plant is strategic, considering the world’s increasing attention to production processes and the measurement of the carbon footprint in all the links in the chain. The plant will leverage the competitive potential of potato production in Argentina, where 50% of the country’s potatoes are produced in the production area close to Mar del Plata. The plant is expected to produce 3 million servings of potato chips per day worldwide.
Federico Peralta Ramos, the General Manager of Lamb Weston’s Argentine operation, highlighted the job creation impact of the investment in both construction and operation. The investment will also generate infrastructure that will benefit other activities in the region.
Lamb Weston’s Argentine partner is the Sociedad Comercial del Plata, whose main shareholder, Ignacio Noel, had purchased Farm Frites, another global potato chip processor. Noel successfully persuaded Lamb Weston to invest in the business, making SCP the Argentine partner of the North American company, according to Hector Huergo‘s news report.
Source: Clarin. Read the full story in Spanish here
Photo: Credit Bonetto Martin via Clarin
Translated excerpt of news story: Potato News Today
