Day 3: Trip to La Serenisima

Group photo with guide Matias after a great tour.

Today was our first business trip in Argentina. We had an early wakeup call and a long ride ahead of us, but it was all worth it. On our way to the plant we drove out of the busy city, we were look at the suburban areas around us. As we drove past, Sofia mentioned that a lot of immigrants live in this particular area. They are renovating the road so they are all able to attend schools and rebuilding all the houses so they are livable. Once we arrived at the plant, we were greeted by our tour guide Matias. He took us to a little screenings room where he gave us a quick introduction and showed us a very informative video on the history of the factory. He has worked with Bryant before so we were very pleased to have him showing us around again. Matias told us he has been with La Serenisima for about six years. Before working at the plant, he worked on a cruise ship and learned to speak English very well. Matias was very passionate about his job and very attentive to our group and all of our questions. The video was not very long, but very informative. The company was founded in 1929 and family run up until recent management change. They have over 4,000 employees working at all different levels of the company. La Serenisima has five different classifying plants and seven manufacturing plants. Although there are only a few companies that produce milk products in Argentina, they are one of the largest. Their values are very important to them and want to make sure they send out the highest quality of products in every shipment.
 

Students getting ready to watch the video all about the company La Serenisima. 

La Serenisima produces a large variety of products. From regular milk products to powdered goods. They also do butters, creams, many types of cheeses, and dulce de leche. They buy milk from over 724 certified dairy farms. In their plant, they personally evaluate all the milk to make sure it is the highest quality for their products. La Serenisima is not wasteful with any leftover milk, they have a secondary company that produces less expensive product so everyone can afford milk products. After watching the video, we were able to walk though he factory and actually see how everything was produced. John and many others were saying how mesmerizing it is to watch the products being created and packaged. In the specific plant we toured, they produce they top selling products and they specialty products like lactose reduced products.

Machines at work producing the dairy products. 

Matias was explaining to our group how the company will be changing in a positive way due to new management. He explained that big things were coming with new products like vegan milk and a few others he could not share with us. As our tour came to an end, we were able to try some sample of the products. Courtney and others agreed that their yogurt is a lot creamier. A lot of our class enjoyed the Caramel like substance called dulce de leche. Overall the visit was a huge success and a lot of fun for all.

Group of students enjoying the samples of the products at the end of the tour. 

Matias explaining the labratory and its importance.