Lucio Tortosa, CEO of South Atlantic Company, leads the Spanish-owned seafood group’s $45-million reprocessing plant in Hohenau, the first investment of its kind in Paraguay. Here, he explains how full integration, clean production and Paraguay’s geography, energy and people are shaping the company’s next 20 years.
Q: What are South Atlantic’s strategic priorities today?
We are a global company, though the capital is Spanish. We have commercial operations all over the world: China, Spain, Morocco, India, South America. We process prawns, squid, tuna and hake into retail products. We are totally integrated: the companies in our group fish, transform and sell.
What distinguishes us is our focus on food security and clean production. Our products undergo only cleaning and packaging – no chemical additives. We capture, transport and transform everything ourselves, all under the same care and vision. Ours is a company owned by families from three generations of fishing in Spain. The owners are the CEOs. Customers value that – there is a human being responsible behind every process.
Q: Why did the group choose Paraguay?
The group was growing. We analysed several countries in Latin America – Brazil, Uruguay – but we settled on Paraguay. When one of the owners visited and met with the president and ministers, they were receptive. We came because we realised we were geographically positioned very strategically.
Before, if we caught different species in South America, we sent them to Asian countries for reprocessing and then exported them to Europe. From Paraguay, we reduce the transit time of goods from 90 days to 3 days. With an annual movement of close to 1,500 million dollars, that saving represents an enormous reduction in financial and logistics costs, especially considering the recent increase in container costs.
What changed everything was understanding the people. Most of the population here is young. There is a fibre you cannot buy or change with laws – here people want to work. Here, people sit down, solve issues and both sides give a little. People keep their word.
We settled in Hohenau, in the Pradera Alta industrial park. The municipality asked us to hire local construction companies to provide jobs. We hired Cerro Corá, German descendants. The work cost $20 million, and we never had a dispute – not one lawsuit. When I mentioned a door was not right, the owner changed it the next day. When we called for employees, 1,000 people came spontaneously from three united German colonies – Obligado, Hohenau and Bella Vista – which have only 15,000 residents combined.
Q: How do you want European investors and partners to perceive South Atlantic?
We look to the next 20 years. The closeness of the owners goes beyond just visiting the business. Each owner is an expert in their sector – one manages fishing fleets at sea, others oversee reprocessing. They have no economic necessity to be there; it is a passion. They visit every plant. They know if the product is well fished and well processed.
In 20 years, water and energy will be critical differentiators. Paraguay has an abundant supply of potable water – the Guaraní Aquifer – and clean energy. A smaller carbon footprint matters increasingly. We are committed to hydraulic and solar energy.
The consumer increasingly pays more for certified products with no chemicals, low carbon footprints and environmental care. We aim for that awareness. It is not just romantic – it is business. Our business comes from the seas. We contribute to control of biological life cycles and waste in the seas.
Q: How does your 45-million-dollar investment position South Atlantic for growth?
We began with smaller initial estimates – around 17 million dollars – but as we learned more about Paraguay, we expanded. We have invested 45 million dollars through expanding the facility as we understood the country’s potential.
Initially, we came for tax incentives under the Maquila Law and Law 60/90, which allow duty-free import of machinery. But we realised Paraguay’s true advantages: geography, currency stability and low energy costs.
Energy was a revelation. Paraguay has the cheapest energy in the world today. It used to be Texas; now it is Paraguay. It is renewable, beautiful romantically and practical economically. The state finished a high-voltage electrical line a year before we finished the plant, committing to infrastructure alongside our investment. The president, Santiago Peña, and his team ensured the line was ready for our high energy demand.
We also discovered currency stability – Paraguay has maintained stable currency for 80 years. There is a social agreement here on key milestones: industrialisation, currency stability and job creation. The current president is focused on labour-intensive industries. Our sector is exactly that. Although our plant is highly technical, we cannot and do not want to replace human hands. Our products come from the sea, where human skill matters for quality.
Q: What partnership opportunities exist for German and European investors?
South Atlantic is part of a larger group. The most visible entity in Europe is WOSCO, headquartered in Vigo, Spain, which sells throughout Europe. Within the group are Chinese partners, Danish partners, mostly Spanish and strong Ecuadorian partners – Ecuador is the second-largest tuna fishing nation globally.
We are open to all kinds of collaboration. The most viable would be partnerships that bring together owners or technical experts who can develop and sell products in Germany and Europe. We are interested in synergy – bringing existing projects together rather than starting from zero.
Beyond investment, we are interested in training, qualification and technology exchange. We welcome German and European companies to see what we are building here.
Q: What is your proudest contribution to Paraguay and the region?
This is the first investment of this kind in Paraguay. Sea product reprocessing did not exist here. We are generating 400 to 600 formal jobs in a region of 15,000 people. We opened a path for other companies already looking at Paraguay to follow.
We had to register new products – prawns, tuna, reprocessing – with authorities. The Minister of Industry, the president of SENACSA (which manages food safety) and others were close and engaged, working 12 to 13 hours daily, travelling the country, solving problems. That enabled us to move forward.
Beyond that, labour is key. When a company teaches a community how to handle certain seafood, the knowledge stays. You find grandmothers, mothers, grandfathers, fathers and children who know how to handle a certain fish, how to bring it to shelf. That cultural and social knowledge lasts a lifetime. When the next company looks to settle, they come to Hohenau because people already know how to do this. We have contributed that foundation.
Q: What technologies will redefine the sector and your company?
The new technology we are applying reduces industrial processes and meets new consumer demand: chemical-free, single-freeze products. The consumer wants no preservatives and no refreezing.
Historically, products were frozen at sea plants in ports, then frozen again at processing plants. This plant is designed differently. The product travels in ice, like salmon exported by plane. The first and last freezing happens here. Products travel internationally in controlled, certified boxes with ice, and when they arrive, they are processed and frozen for the first – and only – time in their life. When the consumer thaws it at home, that is the only thaw it will ever have.
We have also certified that we have never used chemicals. Now we show the world. The technology is production technology free of any preservative trace, free of multiple freezings – completely transparent.
Q: What does managing a global operation require?
The challenge as a CEO is having a global vision of the business. Each country contributes something. Spain gives us access to detailed, particular products for markets that know fish and shellfish deeply. Ecuador contributes tuna expertise and other products. Here in Paraguay, we have geography, logistics, energy, people and a business-friendly environment.
What that requires personally is moving around the world, not staying home. But I do it with confidence from the owners and the group.
Q: What would you advise European investors considering Paraguay?
For European investors considering Paraguay, my recommendation is to visit. Come to Paraguay, not to do business, but to know the people and the country. Talk to workers, go to their homes. Meet managers and mid-level employees. Get to know the idiosyncrasy. Then analyse whether you want to do business.
Visit existing companies. The owner of NOX Paddle Rackets is Spanish. There are companies from all over the world in construction too.
If you want to invest 50 million dollars, you have to know where you are going. I went and ate at workers’ houses, talked with managers and mid-level staff. You form an idea that way. Travel for a week, get to know the place, then decide. That is my advice.
