| Spanish Olive Oil |
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| Defined & Refined |
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Sansó Foods, Inc. is a young company with a long history. Established in Cuba in 1917, Gus C. Robayna acquired the Sansó brand from the Sansó family and began the product development and marketing process in Miami, Florida in 2002. Today, the company offers a wide array of Mediterranean and Caribbean all-natural world food products led by its Spanish extra virgin olive oil.
Under Robayna’s leadership, the Sansó brand was launched in the U.S. in 2003 beginning with South Florida and has become a leader in the world-foods products industry. Ready-to-eat yuca was the first item offered for sale in June 2003. In its short “new” history, the company has attained several distinctions including being named the featured olive oil of the 2005 and 2006 Worlds of Flavor International Conference and Festival. The olive oil has become a favorite among a plethora of nationally-recognized chefs including Chef Douglas Rodriguez of Ola Steak & Tapas Restaurant in Coral Gables, Chef Allen Susser of Chef Allen's in Aventura, Chef Paulo Fraga of Aqua Mediterranean Wave of Boca Raton, Chef Maricel Presilla of Cucaharamama in Hoboken, NJ and Wilo Benet of Pikayo Restaurant in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Staying true to the founders’ mission, Robayna has highlighted the company’s premium olive oil, a unique blend of specially selected olives from Andalusia, Spain. Similar to the olive oil produced more than a half century ago, Sansó olive oil continues to have a bold, assertive flavor with a strong aroma.
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Bartolome Sansó and his wife, Francisca Estaras, emigrated from Mallorca, Spain, to Cuba in the early 1900's. In 1917, they started importing olives from Spain in bulk containers and packing them into smaller bottles at home. They sold the olives door-to-door and to the local stores (bodegas). By the mid 1920’s, Bartolome and his wife had taken on a partner, moved to a warehouse and began to expand the product line, mostly by repacking imported or locally purchased product. The company was now known as Sansó, Ribot & Cia.
In 1936, Roberto Sansó, Bartolome & Francisca's son, joined the business while still attending college. By now, the company had moved into much larger facilities for storage and distribution.
By 1936, the Sansó Company had built a packing and processing facility in the Santa Clara province of Cuba in a small town called Florencia. This region was famous for growing tomatoes and pimentos and so this facility produced ketchup, tomato sauce, pimentos (roasted red peppers) and other related products.
At its Havana facility, the company had expanded its olive packing capacity and was packing different varieties and sizes of olives. It had achieved the broadest line of olive products in Cuba. It also imported and distributed Sansó brand olive oil which was packed in Spain.
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In 1947, the Ribot family sold their interest to the Sansó's and thus the company changed its name to Sansó & Cia., as it was now wholly owned by the Sansó's. The Havana packing and processing plant was expanded and several new products were added. A new line of wines were introduced, made in Cuba using Cuban raw materials. Moscatel and dry cooking wines (vino seco) were very popular, as was the extra fine vinegars made from sugar cane and tropical fruits. Red and white table wines also were made at the Havana plant. Squid (calamares en su tinta) from local waters were packed in its own ink and added to an expanding product line.
In 1948 Bartolome Sansó, the company's founder, died. His son, Roberto Sansó and his two siblings continued expanding the business and the product offerings. The existing facilities were upgraded and in 1958, the company made its first export sale, shipping roasted red peppers to Puerto Rico.
In 1959 a new processing and packing plant in the town of Quibican, Cuba was completed. Sansó could now pack its own green beans, tomato paste and whole peeled tomatoes. The equipment to process and roast red peppers was upgraded and production was now exported to many different countries in the Caribbean and South America.
In 1961, the Castro regime confiscated the company and continued running it but by early 1962, the company was shut down. Roberto and Tina and their son, Roberto moved to Costa Rica.
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In Costa Rica, Roberto Sansó and two partners purchased a small packing plant in the outskirts of San Jose. The small company had an established brand of canned fruits and vegetables packed under the Del Tropico label. The Costa Rica plant continues to pack the Sansó brand ready-to-eat yuca, malanga, fruits, fruit preserves and hearts of palm. A new for-export-only packing plant began production in February 2005.
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