Brazilian farm cooperative Castrolanda can begin building a corn tortilla plant in Castro, Paraná, after the state environmental agency, the Instituto Água e Terra (IAT), granted it an installation license, BNT Online reported Oct. 9. The tortilla unit is one piece of a R$500 million investment program the co-op announced this year, the biggest in its history.
The plant is aimed at business customers and will be built in a new Castrolanda industrial district. The co-op and IAT staff spent more than a year reviewing the engineering plans and environmental safeguards for both building and running the site. Environmental supervisor Thiago Molina called the permit “an important milestone” that confirms the project meets the agency's requirements.
The same license round cleared a new milk-drying tower at Castrolanda's dairy processing unit, a project shared with fellow cooperatives Frísia and Capal through their Unium alliance. Castrolanda has not said how much the tortilla plant will produce or when it will open.
Castrolanda Cooperativa Agroindustrial