Every morning, as soon as the sun appears, trucks from Vita Alimentos, which until March 2022 was known as Pasteurizadora Quito, arrive at 240 farms and ranches in the country’s Central Sierra and Northern Sierra to collect milk that will later be turned into into pasteurized milk, from wrappers and cartons, butter, milk cream, and even more complex products such as mochachino and cappuccino. Roberto Espinosa, director of Vita Alimentos, who is also a supplier of milk for the company from his farm in Tambillo, tells us something about the history of this corporation that has hundreds of shareholders, one of which is the municipality of Quito.

How did the company come about, was it always located south of Quito in front of Luluncot?

63 years ago, in 1960, the pasteurizer Quito was born, mainly due to the need to supply Quito with milk of good quality and good taste. The municipality of Quito and a group of livestock farmers joined this idea. The company was built here, in the south of the city. Now we are in a difficult position, we are a little tight for space, we can’t wait to move to another location, but we still don’t have room.

How does the company function with this figure in which the Municipality is also a shareholder?

Well, the capital was provided by cattle farmers, the Municipality had machinery and is currently a shareholder with 30%. When it was inaugurated, the company had a few partners, but currently they have multiplied through inheritance and sales and now have a total of 450 partners. The company model is a joint-stock company with a shareholder, the Municipality, which holds 30% of the shares. But that shareholder is not in the management of the company, but only fulfills his role as a shareholder. Instead, the company has an independent and professional board of directors, and the CEO is Patricio Calderón Segovia. It also has 282 direct and 300 indirect employees. They also have 200 suppliers and 100 product distributors. As well as 30,000 customers (shops, bakeries, restaurants, among others).

Vita Alimentos has a large presence in the milk market. What was your strategy?

We competed with quality, cleanliness and favorable price. The quality of the product is the best there is, and this is due to the acceptance of Quito and the recognition that the population has given us. And not only in Quito, we are opening more and more markets at the national level. For example, we opened a Tulcán pasteurizer, where we also process products, especially cardboard. We also have a wide portfolio of products, such as cheese, butter, milk cream, lactose-free milk and cappuccino and mochachino coffee. with skimmed milk, unique on the market. These are interesting products that consumers welcome. Oats, which we started exporting to the USA, are also produced. Now we put in 30,000 liters every six months.

How did production grow these years?

63 years ago, we would start with 5,000 or 10,000 liters per day. And thanks to the work, the quality of the products, we now have 260,000 liters per day. We are currently the leader in the dairy industry and have remained so for seven years. Is that in ranking from Kantar, which conducts consumer preference studies every year, we hold the first place for seven years in a row. Now, for the first time, Kantar has awarded us the recognition that we are the brand most chosen by Ecuadorian households. This, after obtaining 92 million consumer reach points (CRP, acronym in English), is the measure used to determine the results. We are the first Ecuadorian brand to receive this recognition, before international brands.

Do you have investment plans for this or next year?

We are constantly investing, updating and improving our production lines. For four years now, we have had a factory in Tulcán, which has new facilities; and we are changing the series of machines, because we are about to launch a new container. The last investment we made was the purchase of land in Quito, we also invested in state-of-the-art machinery.

How has Vita Alimentos affected consumption, since there is a general decline in milk consumption, due to the evident trend of non-consumption of milk?

In reality, the problem we have is the consumption of milk being smuggled across borders and flooding the market. In addition, there is also the use of whey which is mixed and thus they get a cheaper product. As for drinks made from almonds or some other kind, which are not milk, they caused a little discomfort. It is necessary to know that milk is 100% necessary for the nutrition of infants. It would even be desirable if there was greater state support for school breakfasts with milk.