We spent today touring the final 3 companies that we
researched before coming to Chile.
First, we visited Hela, a producer of household and industrial tools and
brushes. We were able to follow the full
processes for how they manufactured various tools and see the heavy machinery
in action. It was almost entrancing to
watch the machines pumping and shifting.
There was almost a rhythm to it and I now understand why industrial rock
exists. Here are some pictures:
After Hela, we visited Conservas Centauro, a major food
producer in Chile. They are responsible
for various brands in Chile and produce tomato paste, ketchup, canned fruits,
and some prepared meals. It was
interesting to see the entire process of producing ketchup, from washing the
tomatoes to peeling them to crushing them to heating them to remove water and
finally adding vinegar and other extras.
We were also shown the packaging process and were able to see the
machines that sealed bags of tomato sauce.
The best part, though, was when we were given the chance to taste the
ketchup, which was sweeter than Heinz and much better than other ketchups we
had encountered in Chile. Apparently,
the ketchup production was a new project that Centauro had only recently taken
on for the supermarket chain Jumbo, so we were some of the first people to
taste it. Here are some pictures:
Finally, we traveled to Bosques del Mauco, a mushroom
producing company. Our guide was a
consultant from the Netherlands who had the role of trying to improve the
efficiency of the company’s processes and prevent errors. He took us to see the piles of compost, made
of straw, chicken manure, and horse manure.
Apparently, the temperature within the piles becomes extremely hot, and
so they begin to fume. Yes, there were
fuming piles of horse manure. They
smelled. Very bad. Still, we eventually got somewhat used to the
smell as we visited their stockpiles of raw materials, such as corn and wheat,
that they add to the compost to provide extra nutrients. The aim of this is to grow bacteria that will
produce amino acids from the nutrients.
The amino acids would form proteins to be used by the mushrooms for
food. After this, we visited the tunnels
where they use climate control and pressurized oxygen in order to cause the
mushrooms to grow. They also use
super-heated steam to destroy any unwanted contagions. Once the mushrooms begin
to grow, they transfer them into special wooden trays and put them in a
controlled shed in order to grow. Then
they harvest the mushrooms over a period of 2 weeks, where every day the
mushrooms nearly double in size. Here
are pictures of the mushroom farm:
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