The Panamerican Agricultural School, Zamorano Meat Processing Plant has served to educate students for 25 years and now in 2012 will be renovated and updated thanks to a generous donation from Cargill US and Central America for $1,000,000, over three years.
On January 27th, Cargill executives symbolically delivered this historic donation at a ceremony on the Zamorano campus. At the same time, the long-standing cooperative agreement for scholarship, internships and in-service training for Zamorano students was renewed as well.
Faculty, staff and graduates observed the important moment as distinguished Cargill officials, including Mr. Bruce Burdett, Head of the Business Unit of Cargill Meats Central America, and Attorney Blanca Villela, General Manager of Cargill Meats Honduras and Zamorano President, Dr. Roberto Cuevas García, Dr. Luis Fernando Osorio, Director of the Food Science and Technology Career and Dr. Adela Acosta, Head of the Meat Processing Plant, signed agreements, exchanged meaningful words and Zamorano’s President graciously accepted Cargill’s generous donation. The Honduran Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Jacobo Regalado, also a Zamorano graduate, attended as well.
Since the late 1980s, Zamorano and Cargill have enjoyed a strategic partnership that began with Cargill’s support for education and research on basic grains. At that time, the main road to the Food Science and Technology Career was named Cargill Street to commemorate this important relationship. Continuing this tradition in 2011, Cargill Headquarters and its Honduran local affiliate businesses made a joint donation of US$1,000,000 to Zamorano to be disbursed over 3 years, to improve Zamorano’s Meat Processing Plant infrastructure. Donation was also made possible by the support of management and the Board of Trustees of Zamorano, especially of Mr. Frederick Falck.
- Bruce Burdett (Cargill) and Roberto Cuevas G. signing new scholarship agreement
Cargill also renewed its US$40,000 per year scholarship agreement with Zamorano to benefit youth with scarce economic resources. Since 1993, this cooperation agreement has assisted 44 graduates who are now successfully working in their professional fields plus six youth currently studying at Zamorano.
Burdett conversing with Cargill scholarship holders at Zamorano
Cargill is an important employer of Zamorano graduates in the region; currently there are nearly 80 alumni working with Cargill businesses around the world. Mr. Burdett, Head of Cargill’s Central American Business Unit said, “Zamorano has become our main source of recruitment. To contract a Zamorano means to contract someone who has an excellent academic formation and also has the values and work ethic that we promote at Cargill.”
President Cuevas Garcia thanked Cargill and specifically, Mr. Burdett, “… for their continued support to the formation of human resources in Latin America and the Caribbean and for helping Zamorano fulfill its mission to contribute to the region’s agricultural development and economic progress.” He added that, “This year Zamorano is celebrating 70 years of excellence because of the hard work of previous presidents, its academic and administrative leaders, professors, researchers and a wonderful support staff. We are able to improve infrastructure and technology thanks to donors and friends like Cargill.”
At the ceremony, third year student from Zamorano’s Food Science and Technology Career, Maira Intriago, thanked Cargill on behalf of the Zamorano student body. Likewise, Dr. Luis Fernando Osorio, Director of the Food Science and Technology Career, told those present that the meat plant has played a fundamental role in the Zamorano industrial park, “Built in 1987, it has served more than two thousand graduates in their Learning by Doing activities, the pillar of a Zamorano education. In addition, dozens of companies have used its facilities for training and new product development, and thousands of customers have routinely consumed its prestigious, safe and high quality products. On behalf of the Zamorano community we thank Cargill for financing the much needed renovation of our Meat Plant, which will be the most modern meat processing plant in a Latin American university and will also include a component for processing biomedical products.”
Renovation of the Meat Plant
The Zamorano Meat Processing Plant is designed to be a first class educational and training center. The plant will consist of harvesting, deboning, meat improvement and sausage production areas, as well as a separate packaging area, eight cold rooms to meet the cold chain demand, and service areas. In addition, it will have an analysis laboratory to ensure quality control and food safety. The plant will also have an improved animal management system to guarantee humane treatment of the animals; a lecture room with technology for the detailed study of animal anatomy; a maturing area that will enable the manufacturing of fermented salamis and cured hams; a two door tunnel oven to ensure the safety of cooked products; and an isolated area for packaging products ready for consumption. Furthermore, in order to ensure energy conservation, solar panels will heat the water required by the plant.
The modernization of the Zamorano Meat Processing Plant will allow Zamorano to address current and future challenges to the meat industry in the region. Its purpose is to continue to be an educational center for Zamorano students and visitors from Latin America and the Caribbean.
