The Florida meat plant officially reopened its doors this Friday under the management of the Saturno group, which works providing meat to the domestic market. The inauguration ceremony was attended by President Yamandú Orsi, Florida governor Carlos Enciso, and national government authorities. Luis Avero, director of Saturno, said the project aims first to consolidate its presence in the domestic market and later move toward exports.
During the event, Avero stressed that the reopening of the facility is part of a business project with solid foundations and growth potential. “We didn’t come to try our luck. This is a viable project, a possible project,” he said.
Avero explained that the plant will initially operate as a complement to the company’s existing activities in the domestic market, although with the goal of eventually expanding into export markets. “Today it starts as a complement to the activity we already have in the domestic market. It is a necessary and vital complement for our business and a stepping stone toward the international market,” he noted.
According to the businessman, the plan is to gradually increase both processing volumes and the number of workers as the project consolidates.
Avero added that the company’s growth strategy will draw on successful experiences from Uruguay’s beef industry. “We are not trying to invent anything. In Uruguay there are very good examples of family companies that started like us,” he said, citing Frigorífico Pando-San Jacinto, owned by the Urgal family, and Copayan, from the González family, as references for the project’s development. “We will copy them a lot; we will look at how they did it and what steps they took to grow,” he added.
Avero said the initiative also aims to contribute to the development of the region. “We love making money. The company loves making money. But fortunately, that is not the only thing that drives us. Contributing to the development of local activity and the region is a fundamental motivation for us,” he said.
During his remarks, Avero also stressed that the management of the project will remain entirely in the hands of the company. “This is a collective effort and many people contributed to make it possible. But the management and the responsibility for managing it belongs exclusively to Saturno,” he stated.
Luis Avero, head of the Saturno group, with President Yamandú Orsi during the inauguration ceremony of the Florida meat plant.
