Soprole or Sociedad Productores de Leche is a Chilean maker of dairy products. Under the Soprole brand, the company markets

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

desserts Dessert is a course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create des ...

, Jelly and

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

. It was part of

Fonterra Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand Multinational corporation, multinational publicly traded dairy cooperative, co-operative owned by New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy ex ...

until 2022, since March 2023, it is a subsidiary of Grupo Gloria.

History

Soprole was created in 1948, initially as a

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

and

producer. In the 1970s, it diversified its production into more value-added products like juices, pastries and yogurt. Juan Luis Undurraga Aninat, one of the founders, acquired the shares of other investors allowing him to control more than 40 percent of the company. In 1986, the

New Zealand Dairy Board The New Zealand Dairy Board (NZDB) was a statutory board in control of the export of all New Zealand dairy products from its formation in 1923 until 2001. It operated through a global network of marketing subsidiaries. In 2001, the Dairy Board wa ...

, now part of

, acquired more than 50 percent of Soprole's shares, giving it majority control. That same year, Juan Luis Undurraga Aninat transferred his shares of the company to create the Fundación Isabel Aninat. Under the control of the New Zealand Dairy Board, Soprole bought out some of its competitors like Lácteos Pirque in 1994 and Dos Álamos in 1997. Today, 76 percent of the Chilean dairy market is controlled by four companies:

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

, Soprole, Loncoleche and Colún. In November 2022, the Grupo Gloria Inc, a

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian corporation of foods, buys Soprole's supply in its entirety for

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

210 million. On March 30, 2023, after approval by the Chilean authorities, the company Gloria Foods (subsidiary of Grupo Gloria S.A) takes full control of Soprole.

References

External links

Official website
Food and drink companies established in 1949 Drink companies of Chile Dairy products companies of Chile Manufacturing companies based in Santiago, Chile Chilean companies established in 1949 Chilean brands Yogurt companies {{Food-company-stub