HAVANA, Cuba.- Two large Cuban factories, La Estrella and El Miño, no longer produce the products that made them famous for their quality: jams, the first, and sausages, the second.
I remember the tasty chocolates that they made in La Estrella, wrapped in aluminum foil, which were worth 1 cent. Also sweet cookies, which could be chocolate or vanilla, candies of various flavors and chocolate bars.
I preferred the “Chocolate Miniatures”, tiny little chocolates that came in a cellophane package and cost 10 cents. I also really liked the “Chocolate Goticas”, tiny sweet cookies that were sold both retail and in packages.
As a child, my school took me to visit La Estrella. There they explained to us how they made their productions and, before we left, they gave us sweets as part of their publicity campaign.
La Estrella, founded in the second half of the 19th century, was first in a small store at San Miguel 117 and made breads and cookies. Its owner, the Spanish Guerrero, combined his capital with other investors, and expanded his business by establishing himself in Infanta between Sitios and Peñalver, with new productions, such as canned sweets and guava bars.
A second incorporation of capital with related companies, resulted in the increase and variety of its products, which enjoyed great acceptance and became famous.
In the 1930s, when they sold the business to Cuba Biscuit and La Ambrosía, they moved to the facilities that still exist in Buenos Aires and Vía Blanca in El Cerro, which occupy more than two city blocks.
La Estrella is currently called Gerardo Abreu Fontán, which is the name of a member of the July 26 Movement, who died during the fight against the Batista regime.
In the factory, which is heavily guarded, no one specifies what is being produced.
Today, in Cuba, jams like the ones made in La Estrella are imported and can only be bought, when available, in MLC stores.
A few days ago I found “Africanas” in a cafeteria, small biscuits covered with chocolate, at 20 pesos each. The wrapper said La Estrella, but in one corner it read “Fábrica Guamá, Rodríguez 44 between Rabí and Diez de Octubre.”
So what is the gigantic factory on the Hill for?
the factory sausages El Miño is located in Ayestarán corner of General Aguirre in El Cerro. The modern establishment maintains its façade in black marble, and an extension of 100 meters long. The stained glass windows, illuminated at night with a large revolving star, where at each end there was a can that advertised their wares, disappeared. Now there are posters promoting Tauro, a mixed company that sells meat products.
The productions of this industry, founded in 1925 by the Spanish Severino Abuín, were the ones with the highest national consumption due to their prestige and quality.
The sausages and black pudding from El Miño, which were essential for the preparation of stews and other dishes, came packaged in aluminum cans, with butter for preservation. But they also sold them retail in the warehouses.
My mother always added El Miño chorizo to each monthly grocery bill, because in her opinion and that of most people, they were the best.
A brand promoted by the famous TV channel 2 presenter Gaspar Pumarejo was Choripan, which he ate with pleasure in front of the cameras. But they say it was very bad.
I asked one of the custodians of the El Miño factory if they still made sausages there, and he answered “yes, to sell them in foreign currency and in national currency.” But they are not seen anywhere, in either currency.
The custodian told me that the factory also assumes the production of Cuba Catering, a company that supplies light meals for travelers on international flights.
Currently, El Miño, under another name, is located in New Jersey, United States, and maintains the excellence of its products.
Like the jams from La Estrella and the chorizos from El Miño, hundreds of other products that were made in Cuba have disappeared. All thanks to socialism.
OPINION ARTICLE
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