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Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food industry |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Founder | José Antonio Santiesteban |
| Headquarters | Maipú, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile |
Number of locations | 60 (2019) |
Area served | Chile, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Panama |
| Products | Confectionery, candy, biscuits, ice cream, soft drinks |
Number of employees | 3,500 (2019) |
| Website | www |
Fruna is a Chilean food company that produces confectionery, candy and other mass-market food products. Founded in 1961, it is based in Maipú, in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, and is known in Chile for its wholesale distribution network and for products such as Tabletón.[1][2][3]
History
editAccording to profiles in La Tercera and Diario Financiero, Fruna was founded in 1961 by José Antonio Santiesteban, who had previously worked in another confectionery factory and used his savings to establish his own business. The company later developed as a family-run enterprise, incorporating Santiesteban's children and other relatives into different parts of its operations.[1][2]
By 2019, the group employed more than 3,500 people, operated around 60 sales outlets, and exported products to Bolivia, Nicaragua and Panama.[1]
Products and market position
editA 2008 consumer report estimated Fruna's share of the Chilean biscuit market at around 16%, mainly under the Fruna and Serrano brands.[4] The company's business model has been associated with wholesale sales to small retailers and with lower-middle and lower-income consumer segments.[5] A 2020 report by the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture listed Distribuidora Fruna among Chile's wholesale discount-store operators serving independent stores and neighborhood businesses.[6]
Among Fruna's best-known products is Tabletón, a chocolate-coated vanilla biscuit that the company says originated from a production error and later became one of its most popular items.[3] In 2017, during the 2017 Chile wildfires, the company released an ice cream named in tribute to the 747 Supertanker.[7]
Labor and safety issues
editFruna has faced repeated criticism over alleged labor conditions at its facilities. In 2017, after the deaths of two workers at the company's Maipú factory, the company came under renewed scrutiny over workplace harassment and working conditions. One of the workers, Rolando Venegas, died by suicide at the plant; later reporting by Cooperativa said he had left a letter blaming supervisors for his decision.[8] Fruna rejected the accusations, while one of the company's unions described the reporting as a smear campaign against the firm.[9][10]
The company's products have also been involved in safety complaints. In 2016, a family in Osorno reported finding part of a human finger in a Fruna ice cream product.[11] Regional health authorities later confirmed that the fragment was human tissue, and in 2017 a court ordered the company to pay 5 million Chilean pesos in damages to the affected family.[12]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile, health authorities temporarily shut Fruna's plant in July 2020 after inspectors found a lack of COVID-19 protocols and other sanitary failings.[13] Prosecutors later said that the factory's collective permits as a food-production operation were in order, while an investigation continued into a nursery associated with workers' children that had been operating irregularly.[14] The Labor Directorate separately fined the company 153 monthly tax units for violations of maternity-protection rules related to nursery benefits for workers.[15]
References
edit- 1 2 3 Cárdenas, Leonardo (15 March 2019). "El "rey del confite": Dueño de Fruna alista su plan de sucesión". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- 1 2 Equipo DF (9 May 2008). "El rey de los confites: la desconocida historia de Antonio Santiesteban". Diario Financiero (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- 1 2 "La historia de un clásico de infancia: ¿Cómo se inventó el "Tabletón"?". T13 (in Spanish). 12 January 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ "Análisis de Galletas" (PDF) (in Spanish). Corporación Nacional de Consumidores y Usuarios (CONADECUS). October 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ Namur, Paula (6 August 2007). "Ribeiro, Fruna y Maicao: empresas que se abocan al C3 y D". Economía y Negocios (in Spanish). El Mercurio. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ Retail Foods (Report). United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service. 20 August 2020. p. 8. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ "Crearon helado en honor al SuperTanker". CNN Chile (in Spanish). 1 February 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ Cooperativa.cl (14 September 2017). "La dramática carta del trabajador de Fruna que se suicidó en abril". Cooperativa (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ Equipo FMDOS (2 June 2017). "Fruna emite declaración sobre reportaje que reveló las condiciones laborales de la empresa". FMDOS (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ ADN.CL (5 June 2017). "Síndicato Nº2 de Fruna acusa campaña de desprestigio en contra de la empresa". ADN Radio Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ Cooperativa.cl (5 October 2016). "Familia presentó querella tras encontrar trozo de un dedo humano en un helado". Cooperativa (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ Alarcón, Alejandro (26 March 2017). "Fruna deberá pagar 5 millones a familia de Osorno que encontró un dedo dentro de un helado". BioBioChile (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ "Seremi de Salud prohibió funcionamiento de planta de empresa Fruna por incumplimiento de medidas por pandemia". La Tercera (in Spanish). 9 July 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ "Fiscalía establece que Fruna contaba con su permiso de funcionamiento "en regla"". 24Horas.cl (in Spanish). 10 July 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ↑ Ovalle, Christian (10 July 2020). "DT multa con más de 7 millones de pesos a Fruna por incumplir normas de protección a la maternidad". BioBioChile (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2026.
Category:Food and drink companies of Chile Category:Companies based in Santiago, Chile Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1961 Category:1961 establishments in Chile