Agricultural firm Solfrut has teamed up with the Argentinian San Juan province government to invest US$14M into upgrading its existing olive oil production plant, which would become the largest in South America when completed.
The renovated plant would have a state-of-the-art mill and see its storage capacity increase to 4,000 tonnes, Olive Oil Times wrote on 29 May.
The plant would be responsible for bottling 30% of olive oil consumed in Argentina as well as bottling olive oil destined for export to Brazil.
The project – which was divided into three phases – would be completed by 2021. The first phase was set to be completed by June, when the plant’s storage capacity would be increased 2,000 tonnes. At the end of the process, even larger tanks would be installed, Olive Oil Times reported.
The second phase included renovating the mill to modernise the equipment, which was expected to be completed by the harvest season in 2020.
The third phase would involve modernising and enlarging the bottling section of the plant.
Solfrut said it expected the plant workforce to increase 15% once the expansion was complete. The plant currently employed 200 people.