Los Portales S.A., a joint venture run by Corporación Alimentaria de Cuba (Coralsa) and Nestlé Waters, will turn fifteen years in 2010 with growth plans and new investments locked in the crosshairs –despite these times of crisis.

Last September, Los Portales S.A. set a new production record. Its president, Argentina’s Industrial Eng. Dario Aparicio, made the announcement with great pride: 700,000 cases of canned sodas (17 million units) and 5 million bottles. Following a superb third quarter, sale estimates for the whole year are now in the neighborhood of $68 million worth of revenues. “In terms of sales and profitability, our figures are quite similar to the ones we chalked up in 2008, quite remarkable for a crisis context in which companies are leaning to red numbers,” he says. “In Los Portales S.A., we’re putting our smart money on the future, based on the expectations of expansion for both tourism and the local market.” Such an upbeat attitude is owed to stepped-up production lines for canned sodas that jumped from 25,000 to 40,000 units per hour, while a similar investment in the bottling section has racked up outputs from 4,000 to 9,000 units per hour at the Ciego Montero plant. In the meantime, the TuKola soda brand continues to be “the company’s flagship,” the leading domestic soft drink among locals and tourists. But the company goes on to branch out its portfolio: the new Piñita has beefed up its flavor and boasts values added with vitamin A, C, B5, B6, B3 and E in its content. With years of experience under his belt in Palmolive, Quilmes, Pepsicola and Nestlé in Argentina and Pakistan, Mr. Aparicio took over the company’s front office in Dec. 2008. “This company is spectacular, I mean, in the results, commitment and professionalism of its staff, in its collaborative spirit. I’d never seen something like that anywhere else.” In 2010, Los Portales S.A. will celebrate its fifteenth anniversary with growth plans somewhere between 2 and 7 percent. For 2011, the company is planning to invest in a PET soda production line for the Guane plant in Pinar del Rio and start bottling water in Cuba under the world-class Nestlé Waters: Pure Life brand (Pureza Vital for the Spanish-speaking markets), that ranks among the bestselling trademarks in the world. “We can do it because we have Premium water,” Mr. Aparicio insists and he stresses on the importance of hydration: eight glasses a day, according to the scientific research studies the Nestlé Waters’ international campaign hinges on.

Los Portales 3404 3rd Ave. on the corner of 34 Miramar Havana, Cuba Phone: (53 7) 204 4099 / 4153 / 2338 / 7691 / 8906 Fax: (53 7) 204 4197 / 204 0396 E-mail lpsa@losportales.cu