Wednesday September 16 2009

PROEZA Group, an international group headquartered in Mexico, has purchased Brazil's fruit juice manufacturer Via Néctare Tecnologia in Taquaritinga, central São Paulo state.

Proeza, which controls four fruit juice production plants in its home country through fruit juice company Citrofrut, plans to expand the production capacity of its new Brazilian acquisition in order to create a superior fruit and juice processor that will supply both the domestic and foreign markets.

Proeza's plans were laid out in a meeting with Taquaritinga municipal leader Paulo Delgado on 9 September. The new owner of Via Néctare Tecnologia presented plans to exploit the agricultural potential of the region, especially in the realm of mango, guava and passion fruit production.

"This acquisition is part of Citrofrut's strategy to grow in the tropical fruits market outside of Mexico," said Citrofrut director Jorge Mangussi. He added that Via Néctare Tecnologia currently processes around 40 000 tonnes of fruit a year, while the objective of the new owner is to raise this total to 100 000 tonnes over the next three years. Citrofrut plans to maintain and develop the Via Néctare brand, in order to build on its existing reputation in Brazil.