In his first public appearance, the new president of San Miguel confirmed the company’s industrial direction

Published in El Cronista Comercial April 30, 2025

Martín Otero Monsegur took over this week as the head of the region’s largest lemon processor. Years ago, the citrus company left the fresh fruit sales business to focus exclusively on industrialization. Here's how the plan is progressing, according to the executive.

Just over 24 hours after becoming the new president of San Miguel—the company born in Tucumán 70 years ago and now the leading producer and marketer of lemons in the Southern Hemisphere—Martín Otero Monsegur confirmed the company’s industrial focus.

“A few years ago, we completely abandoned direct lemon sales to focus exclusively on fruit-derived products,” said the new executive during Expo EFI, an economics, finance, and business event currently taking place at the Buenos Aires Convention Center (CEC).

In 2022, the citrus company shifted its strategy toward the industrial market, a business with higher added value and less volatility than commodity sales, leaving behind its historic core: fresh fruit. At that time, it sold that operation—including assets in Peru and South Africa—to the Catalan group Citri & Co.

Now, with nearly 100% of its production destined for international markets, the citrus company, controlled by the Miguens Bemberg and Otero Monsegur families, is heavily investing in plant efficiency and advance planning, enabling it to remain competitive amid changing local and global macroeconomic conditions.

“Although our origins lie in lemons, today we are an industrial company producing ingredients for various value-added supply chains. For example, lemon-scented detergents contain a fruit-derived component that provides the scent,” he explained.

This new business is also more profitable than fresh fruit sales. According to Otero, the price of a kilo of lemons in the supermarket is around ARS 1000 (approximately USD 0.80), while the price of a kilo of lemon essential oil—one of 120 value-added products produced by the citrus company—is around USD 40. This oil is used, for example, in soft drink production.

Before the strategic shift, the Tucumán-based firm processed around 250,000 tons of lemons per year. Today, San Miguel has a grinding capacity of 500,000 tons per year across all its plants (Tucumán, Uruguay, and South Africa). However, its projections go even further.

“Due to its nutritional qualities, the global food industry is promoting the use of lemon in its various forms. We embrace this trend because we consistently see year after year that demand is growing. All of San Miguel’s growth is tied to increasing demand, primarily driven by the need to provide the world with healthy food,” the executive emphasized.

“We believe that human ingenuity combined with technology is a winning formula. Recently, some young employees at San Miguel proposed using drones to monitor our plantations and track tree conditions throughout the seasons. Thanks to the photos taken by these drones, we can estimate the optimal harvest time for each lemon. This is crucial information, as it allows us to plan production in our factories with great precision,” said Otero Monsegur.

He continued: “This idea is now central to the company, as it is a key element of our competitiveness. We compete with companies in Uruguay, South Africa, the United States, and Italy. The world is our market, and without that kind of creativity that keeps us competitive, we cease to exist tomorrow.”