The new tuna plant from the Spanish Calvo Group was inaugurated last week in La Union, El Salvador.
The ceremony was presided by members of the Calvo family, Salvadorian President Francisco Flores and the Head of the Spanish Xunta de Galicia Manuel Fraga, as well as industrialists and government officials.
Calvo employs a total of 540 workers who are active in the fishing, unloading and tuna processing for the Salvadorian plant; making great impact in La Union, a city with a high unemployment index.
Most of the employed are women. Before Calvo opened its tuna processing plant in La Union, Mrs. Esmari MejÃa was a full time housekeeper at her home. She wanted to get a job and earn money, however could not find employment. Esmari is now working at the Calvo plant and although very pleased with the job is sad about the salary: Calvo pays minimum wages.
Women working at the plant
MejÃa is one of the 200 women working in the tuna cleaning section. Calvo provides jobs to another 340 people who are either fishing or unloading tuna from the vessels. Also, another 40 workers have temporary employment building tuna nets.
The Salvadorian tuna plant in La Union is the largest complex the Calvo Group has throughout the world. It has a production area of 14.291 square meters, with storage capacity for 900 metric tons of tuna. The plant can process 300 tons of tuna daily; from the arrival of the raw material unloaded off the vessels until it is exported to Spain, the product follows a series of stages, which fulfill the strict hygiene and quality norms.
In this initial operational phase, the tuna unloaded from the vessels is cut, cleaned, cooked and packed for export to Galicia, Spain. The frozen tuna loins reach Calvo’s Galician cannery in Carballo where the final tuna processing and canning takes place.
The group also plans on exporting canned tuna to Central America, Mexico, the United States and East Europe in the future.
Therefore, the second phase for the Salvadorian plant, which is scheduled to be completed by next January, will consist on equipping the plant with machinery and technology to can the tuna in La Union. Calvo expects to be shipping cans of Calvo brand tuna from El Salvador to other American counties and East Europe. El Salvador has tariff advantages for exports to these destinations, which is not the case for exports to Spain.
Calvo’s investments in El Salvador already reach USD 60 million, including the tuna plant and two fishing vessels. Calvo’s presence in this country is one of the main achievements of the Agency for the Promotion of Investments in El Salvador (Proesa). The country hopes that the Calvo’ s investiture will lead other tuna industrialists to invest in El Salvador as well.
The group has two companies in El Salvador: Calvo Conservas and Calvopesca.
Last week, Calvo Conservas received, from the hands of Salvadorian Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Mr. El Salvador Urrutia, a processing permit for tuna and other high migratory species. Calvo invested 16 million Euros on the new plant that processes 60,000 metric tons of tuna per annum.
According to the Spanish National Association of Canned Fish and Shellfish Producers (ANFACO), Calvo’s choice in this Central American country is justified by the proximity of tuna fishing banks. Tuna is the main product for the Galician group, as well as for the fish and seafood canning industry.
Calvopesca had already obtained two fishing licenses for national and international waters. The Spanish group destined 34 million Euros to the construction of two tuna vessels, fishing with Salvadorian flag and crew: the MontelucÃa, considered one of the most modern tuna vessels in the world-with capacity to carry 1.800 metric tons and the MonterrocÃo with 1,450 metric tons.
Cutting the tuna
