La Martona is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

brand, currently owned by

La Serenísima Mastellone Hermanos S.A. (mostly known for its trade name: La Serenísima) is an Argentine dairy company headquartered in the city of General Rodríguez in Buenos Aires Province. The company, founded by Antonino Mastellone in 1929, is partially o ...

. La Martona was originally the first dairy company of Argentina, established in 1889 by Vicente Lorenzo Casares in

Cañuelas Partido Cañuelas Partido is a partido of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It has a population of 42,575 in an area of , and its administrative centre is Cañuelas, which has a population of around 24,380. Sports Cañuelas is home to Cañuelas FC, ...

. La Martona was a pioneer in the local industry due to its control of not only products

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

but distribution and

commercialization Commercialization or commercialisation is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into ear ...

. The company is regarded for its technological advancement in the

pasteurization Pasteurization or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than , to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. The ...

and other milk processing, with the acquisition of modern machinery from Europe and the U.S. and the development of rail lines for goods transport.Historia sur
on Estudio Rabadán website La Martona operated until 1978, when it fell into

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

and the brand name was acquired by rival company

(legal name: "Mastellone Hnos.") in a judicial sale. Since then, the company has owned exclusive rights to ''La Martona'' brand name.

History

First years and expansion

La Martona was the first dairy company of Argentina, having been founded by Vicente Casares in 1889. Casares (1848–1910) was an agriculture producer, who owned a ranch, ''San Martín'', in

Cañuelas, Buenos Aires Cañuelas is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the administrative centre for Cañuelas Partido. It is located near the outskirts of the Greater Buenos Aires conurbation. It is claimed that dulce de leche was invented by the d ...

.La historia de la leche La Martona
on ''La Voz'', 8 May 2019 In 1874, he visited the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and Europe, where he gained experience to establish his business. The name ''La Martona'' was taken from "Marta", Casares' daughter, who was later mother of famous writer Adolfo Bioy Casares. The factory was located alongside the

Vicente Casares Vicente Casares is a village in the Cañuelas Partido of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argenti ...

railway station of Cañuelas Partido. The company managed all the products process, from the first phases of production to marketing and commerce, being the first to pasteurize milk in Argentina. Starting in 1890, La Martona was the first company to use

parchment paper Parchment paper, or vegetable parchment, is a cellulose-based composite that has been processed to give it additional properties like non-stickiness, grease resistance, and resistance to humidity. It is commonly used in baking as a disposable ...

as package to package butter, replacing fabric used until then.Vicente Casares
on Municipality of Cañuelas In 189,3 the company exported its first products to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

while in 1902, La Martona starting production of

dulce de leche ''Dulce de leche'' (; pt, doce de leite), also known as caramelized milk, milk candy or milk jam in English, is a confection from Latin America prepared by slowly heating sugar and milk over a period of several hours. The resulting substance, wh ...

. French journalist

Jules Huret Jules Huret (; 8 April 1863, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais – 14 February 1915, Paris) was a French journalist, best known for his interviews with writers. Life Born to a family of fishermen, he started work aged 15 at the secretariat of the ...

wrote after a visit made to La Martona in 1911: By 1908, La Martona helped Argentina to become the second largest

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in t ...

producer worldwide. Apart from managing the company, Vicente Casares had a prolific career as politician, serving as deputy, president of Partido Autonomista and president of the Argentine National Bank among other charges) died in 1910. His son, Vicente Rufino took over the company. On an article published on March 7, 1915, ''The Sunday Star'' (the Sunday edition of newspaper '' The Washington Star'') described La Martona as "the biggest milk farm in the world". The article was written by journalist and photographer

Frank G. Carpenter Frank George Carpenter (May 8, 1855 in Mansfield, Ohio – June 18, 1924 in Nanking) was a journalist, traveler, travel writer, photographer, and lecturer. Carpenter was a writer of geography textbooks and lecturer on geography, and wrote a seri ...

, who gave his impression about the factory which

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...

was being exported to the U.S. He praised the machinery used (noting that machines came from Australia and Europe), and the clean-up of the factory he visited. His article also added information, stating that La Martona produced more than 7,258,000 kg of butter per year, while the farm had 18,000 cows to produce milk. In 1916, La Martona acquired the first

milk separator A separator is a centrifugal device that separates milk into cream and skimmed milk. Separation was commonly performed on farms in the past. Most farmers milked a few cows, usually by hand, and separated milk. Some of the skimmed milk was consum ...

of Argentina, brought from

Oelde Oelde () is a town in the district of Warendorf, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near Beckum. Geography Division of the town Oelde consists of 5 districts: * Oelde * Stromberg * Lette * Sünninghausen * Kirchspiel (with farmi ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 1923, the company brought the first packaging machines from

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Between 1935 and 1941, La Martona introduced the use of refrigerated vehicles. During those years, the number of ''lecherías'' (daire products retail stores) increased their number. In 1942, "Estancias Martona S.A." was established as the

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

division of the company, which only dedicated to industrial activities since then. The division had ha22,000 including own and rented lands in 8 towns, 17,000 Holando-Argentino and 1,200 pedigree

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

. Estancias Martona had also 70

where 4,800 cows where milked per day.

Bankruptcy and brand takeover

La Martona ceased operations in 1978. Due to the company's debts it was declared

and was acquired by Mastellone Hnos. (La Serenísima) for the symbolic value of AR$ 1 in a judicial sale. But it was not until 2019, that La Serenísima launched a line of products under the brand name ''La Martona'', adding it to its brand portfolio.La Martona, el gigante de la leche que se vendió por $1
by Mariana Reinke on ''La Nación'', 8 Apr 2019 On November 27, 1989, the

Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies ( es, Cámara de Diputados de la Nación), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress ( es, Congreso de la Nación). It is made up of 257 ...

named Cañuelas "national home to dairy industry", to mark the 100th. anniversary of La Martona's foundation. In 1997, the building at

estancia An estancia is a large, private plot of land used for farming or raising cattle or sheep. Estancias in the southern South American grasslands, the ''pampas'', have historically been estates used to raise livestock, such as cattle or sheep. In Pu ...

San Martín was declared national historic monument by Decree № 262."Vicente Casares, un rincón perdido on Brandsen" y su Gente blogsite Nowadays ''La Martona'' is one of the brand names of Mastellone Hnos., which commercialises it along with other brands such as ''La Armonía''.

Company image

The most renowned image of the company was a cat's head, a symbol used for

livestock branding Livestock branding is a technique for marking livestock so as to identify the owner. Originally, livestock branding only referred to hot branding large stock with a branding iron, though the term now includes alternative techniques. Other fo ...

, a typical tradition in the country.La Martona, la marca sinónimo de la leche en Argentina
En Corporate Famous writers

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...

and Bioy Casares (who was Vicente Casares' grandson), wrote an advertising brochure for La Martona, with a brief introduction to its history and detailing the qualities of its soured milk.

References

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