The directors of the Caibarién confectionery, in Villa Clara, remodeled by the Cuban-Slovak joint venture Proxcor, announced its opening for September this year. The factory claims to have the conditions to produce 17,000 tons of jams per year, which would represent 30% of national consumption, according to studies by the company itself.
Cereals, candies, cookies, sorbets and filled wafers make up the production plan of Proxcor, a corporation founded in 2019 under the supervision of the Cuban group Coral and its Slovak partner, proxenta. The initial investment to restore the confectionery was 40.9 million euros.
According to statements from María Elena Quintana Graverán, deputy manager of Proxcor, to the official radio station Radio Rebelde, the factory will have its warehouses in Havana, Holguín and in Caibarién itself. For this, it has a fleet of 96 vehicles guaranteed by Proxenta, which will extend the distribution network to the entire country.
The confectioner plans to sell its products in national chain stores, both in Cuban pesos and in freely convertible currency (MLC), in addition to hotels and recreation centers, while 10% of annual production will be destined for export, according to the Proxcor website, although this percentage is expected to gradually increase.
The confectioner plans to sell her products in national chain stores, both in Cuban pesos and in freely convertible currency.
Since 2019, a series of imported equipment from Germany, Italy, Denmark and Slovakia. As for raw materials, it is expected that the national market will be able to provide them through companies such as Azcuba (sugar) and Molinera de La Habana (flour). Artificial flavors, salt, oil and chocolate will also be supplied from Cuba.
According to information published by the investor Proxenta, the confectioner underwent a “complete reconstruction” of the facilities and their land, which occupies 8,620 square meters. The factory will employ 250 workers for three work shifts a day, so that production does not stop.
Proxcor’s warehouses will not have a large capacity, but the company assures that the product’s transportation speed, thanks to Proxenta’s vehicles, will make up for this defect.
Proxenta has been operating as a group of investors since 2009. On June 28, 2019, it signed a contract with the Cuban government to establish the first joint venture between the two countries, although the Slovak part is the largest shareholder. The contract that guarantees the founding of Proxcor is valid for 25 years and it is estimated that its profits, in the first two decades, amount to 300 million dollars.
“The Island offers exceptional investment opportunities, especially for those seeking higher returns that can no longer be achieved in Europe”
“The Island offers exceptional investment opportunities, especially for those seeking higher returns that can no longer be achieved in Europe,” admits the director of the Slovak company.
In the public lines of the project, Proxenta defines the characteristics that make Cuba an “exceptional market”: the “cheap production capacity”, the “lack of productive capacity” of the local market and the “regulation” imposed by the State on the country’s economy, which guarantees the “placement of all production”. “The growing national demand and the gradual recovery of tourism also allow an increase in production capacity,” he adds.
Proxcor’s production would come to fill the void of national jams that has prevailed in recent years on the Island. Currently the cookies, chocolates or candies for sale are mostly imported and are exclusively in stores in freely convertible currency or in the market. informal. In illegal networks, products of this type brought by travelers are also sold at high prices.
Families complain about not being able to guarantee the snack that students must take to school, due to the disappearance of sweet cookies and other products of this type. The Gerardo Abreu Fontán factory (known by its traditional name, La Estrella), which in the past was the most important jam industry on the island, has been in a doldrums for years due to the lack of raw materials and the breakdown of its machinery.
A deal with the government can become an ideal business for unscrupulous entrepreneurs in Europe, while Havana establishes its own rules
Another phenomenon linked to the national manufacture of food or essential products is that, once they have been produced thanks to foreign investment, the State withdraws them from the national market, in Cuban pesos, to sell them in hotels or stores in MLC.
Proxenta’s millionaire investment in Caibarién further strengthens the economic ties between the Island and Slovakia. Another company from that country, Ses Tlmacerecently negotiated a contract with the Cuban government to repair the boilers at the Felton and Mariel thermoelectric plants.
The directors of Ses Tlmace agree with those of Proxenta that Cuba is a kind of “protected environment” for new European investors, since the negotiations depend directly on the State, without intermediaries that complicate the management, and the food and power generation are precisely the most precarious in the country.
Closing a deal with the Cuban government could become an ideal business for unscrupulous businessmen in Europe, while Havana establishes its own rules in exchange for smoothing out obstacles and guaranteeing, through alliances, a “unique and secure position” for its partners in the old continent.
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