Akil Juice Company has regained its financial stability and is getting ready to process more than 10,000 tons of citrus this year, which will be exported to the United States and Europe, said the President of the Board of Directors, Luis Cetina Lopez.
In an interview, he said they would pay between 800 and 1,200 pesos per ton of citrus, depending on the species, to some 3,000 producers who are members of the juicer, which is considered the main processing plant of the entity. "The cooperative enterprise has managed to maintain national leadership in exporting juice concentrate of sweet orange, grapefruit, and tangerines, among others," he said.
Cetina Lopez stressed that the concentrated lime juice and other citrus varieties were mainly sold in Florida, United States, and Germany as well as in the domestic market. "Currently, the plant has one shift and generates 22 jobs but, as of this week, we will open a second shift and employ about 20 people," he said.
"We expect to process about 7,000 tons of Persian limes between July and September, and we are in talks with the soft drink company Embotelladora Peninsular to process a lot of Italian lime for them to use in their drinks," he added. "We still haven't reached an agreement with the bottlers, but we hope to sign an agreement so that the company hires us to process their citrus; currently talks are revolving around production costs," he said.
Cetina Lopez insisted that the company no longer had economic problems as in past administrations, which left the company heavy financial debts that have gradually been overcome and reduced thanks to the continued work and commitment of all partners. "If we had any need for a loan we would have the support of the State Secretariat for Rural Development, but so far we have the resources to support the plant through the marketing of juice concentrates," he stated.
Finally, he said, we can say that there has been of a full revival of the plant and of its work plans for the coming years in the so-called Southern Cone of Yucatan, which concentrates most local production of citrus.
