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Florida Ice and Farm Company S.A. (abbreviated as FIFCO) is a Costa Rican food and beverages company headquartered in the province of Heredia,
Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
. It has a catalog of over 2000 products, sold in over 15 countries. FIFCO is structured as a holding company with three subsidiaries: Florida Bebidas (food and beverages), Florida Capitales (investments in bottling facilities), and Florida Inmobiliaria (investments in resort hotels).


History

In 1908, the Lindo Brothers of Jamaican origin, founded a company in
Siquirres Siquirres is a district of the Siquirres canton, in the Limón province of Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast ...
, the third canton in the province of
Limón Limón (), also known as Puerto Limón, is the capital city of both the province and canton of the same name. One of Costa Rica's seven "middle cities" (i.e., main cities outside of San José's Greater Metropolitan Area), Limón has a populat ...
, one of seven provinces in Costa Rica. The newly formed company was dedicated to agriculture and the making of ice. The ''finca'' (property) in which the company was located was called "La Florida", from which the company took its name of "Florida Ice and Farm Company". The brothers used an English name due to the fact that English was their native language, as it was for many Caribbean migrants who lived in the Atlantic region of Costa Rica. With that same company, they purchased the brewery and beverages business owned by José Traube in 1912. This is how a company that was mainly an agricultural concern entered the beverages market. In 1958, the company purchased Cervecería Ortega. Founded in 1910 by the Ortega Family of Spanish origin, the Ortega brewery had been one of the main competitors with brands such as Imperial and Bavaria. The consolidation of these breweries allowed FIFCO to make investments in a new brewery and bottling plant which it called “Cervecería Costa Rica” in 1966. The plant is located in Río Segundo de
Alajuela Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela (canton), Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of ...
. In 1979 the company went public and commenced trading on the Bolsa Nacional de Valores (the Costa Rican National Stock Exchange). In 1995 FIFCO introduced the "Rock Ice" beer to the local market, which highlighted the innovative use of " ice brewing". In 1998 the company acquired “Cervecería Tropical”. In 2001, the company introduced its line of fruit refreshments "Tropical", and also began distributing the Tampico brand locally. In 2006 the company purchased Industrias Alimenticias Kern's y Compañía S.C.A. for $86 million. The move further diversified its operations and brought along with it the canned beans, sauces, and pasta products under the Kern's and Ducal brands. In 2007, FIFCO purchased the operations of SAB Miller in Costa Rica for US$116 million. The purchase included the distribution rights for
Pepsi Cola Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long-standing rivalry ...
in the country, as well as some real estate investments. In 2008 after two years of the opening of political relationships between
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and Costa Rica, the company signed a contract with Tsingtao that allowed it to start exporting its beer and refreshments into China, as well as importing Chinese beverages into Costa Rica. In 2011 FIFCO purchased Corporación Musmanni, a large bakery chain in Costa Rica with franchisees in
Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
and the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. In March 2012 the company entered the dairy market with the purchase of Coopeleche R.L.; the move put pressure on Cooperativa de Productores de Leche R.L. (Dos Pinos) which has dominated the Costa Rican dairy market for years. In October 2012 FIFCO purchased
North American Breweries FIFCO USA is an American brewing company based in Rochester, New York, Rochester, New York (state), New York. Established as North American Breweries by New York City investment firm KPS Capital Partners to manage its brewery acquisitions (Genes ...
Holdings (NAB) from
KPS Capital Partners KPS Capital Partners is an American investment company that manages KPS Special Situation Funds, a family of investment funds. KPS specifically invests out of two funds raised in October 2019: KPS Special Situations Fund V ($6.12 billion) and KPS ...
, for US$388 million through its subsidiary Cervecería Costa Rica S. A. NAB sells Genesee and Labatt beer in the United States, as well as craft or small batch beers including Magic Hat and
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
. Under contract FIFCO brews
Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...
beer at its facility at La Ribera de Belen. In 2015, FIFCO obtained the ''essential'' COSTA RICA country brand.


See also

*
List of ice companies This is a list of ice companies. Ice companies manufacture and market ice and are involved in the ice trade. Some ice companies manufacture and market dry ice. Notable companies * American Ice Company – a business that manufactured and del ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Florida Ice and Farm Co. Food and drink companies of Costa Rica Beer in Costa Rica Ice companies PepsiCo bottlers Costa Rican brands