A suggestive
penguin
is the emblem of Copal (Coordinator of Food Products), which brings together food manufacturers. The symbol has political connotation. Copal was born in 1975, the third Peronist government, to confront the price freeze of the time.
Decades later they lived with the “penguins Néstor and Cristina” who “subjected them to price controls for 16 years,” recalled yesterday one of their leaders who claims that, although
he feels harmed by the food imports
promoted by Javier Milei, The “current government
is something else
. ”
Perhaps to be more in tune with the new challenges, this powerful business chamber, with associates,
contributes 5% of the GDP, 25% of the added value
, 35% of exports
and US$ 27,000 million in foreign currency,
in addition to employing 500,000 people, decided to change the rudder.
In an assembly,
he replaced Daniel Funes de Rioja
, its president until yesterday, with Carla Bonito, with a technical profile and who served as CEO of the institution for the last 8 years. She is the first woman to take charge.
The idea had been brewing for a long time since the food industries claimed to be
“poorly defended and their interests confused with those of other sectors
. ”
But it was not easy for them
to communicate a decision that was made behind the president's back.
Thus a committee was formed that went to speak with Funes de Rioja and was made up of
David Lee, the king of the Coca Cola bottling companies, Adrián Kaufmann from Arcor and Amancio Oneto from Molinos
. There were reproaches and white smoke.
Seconding the new boss as first vice president is Diego Cifarelli, head of the Federation of Milling Industries (FAIM) and Treasurer of the Sarmiento de Junín club; and second vice president Adrián Kaufmann, from Arcor, former president of the UIA and current member of the Board of Directors of the manufacturing plant.
The secretary of Copal will be Agustín Torres Campbell, from Molinos of the Pérez Companc group, who replaces Alfredo Guzmán, from Celusal and former president of Angus, who remains as another vice president. Gonzalo Fagioli, from Quilmes, will be Treasurer in place of Martín Cabrales, who will also continue as vice president.
Copal also expresses Argentina's condition
as one of the 11 countries in the world that have surpluses in food production
. It occupies seventh place in the ranking and fourth as an exporter. The country has the capacity to
feed 650 million people
At the members' meeting that started yesterday at 2:30 p.m. and lasted two hours, he said goodbye,
comme il faut,
with praise and a round of applause to Funes de Rioja
who will continue as head of the Argentine Industrial Union until May 2025. Lawyer By profession, Funes de Rioja directed Copal for the last 16 years, almost as long as the legendary Alberto Alvarez Gaiani, a pork producer, who presided over it for 18 years.
Moving forward and in the midst of a
drop in sales in tons of food production that reached an alarming 9% in March,
they are going to communicate the factory outlet prices. Perhaps to be in tune with the orders from the Government, they say, for example, that Arcor
has not changed its lists since January 10
and they say that its alfajores leave the factory for $400 to sell between $850 to 1,200 in kiosks. Something similar happens to Ledesma, who lowered the price of sugar by 12%. A classic returns:
the fight between the industry and the marketing chain
.