"If Agroaceite Grows, Our Communities Grow, Too"

This is one of our principles at Agroaceite, as pointed out by José Javier Aguirre, Corporate Director of the tropical oil company.

"Since Agroaceite was founded, the vision of social responsibility has been clear. Our main asset is our employees, and our best allies are the communities. As Agroaceite succeeds, communities must develop to the same extent," Aguirre said.

This is why Agroaceite is committed, not only to provide decent jobs to its collaborators, who are mostly inhabitants of the neighboring communities, but also to collaborate with the Community Development Councils (COCODE, by its Spanish acronym), schools, community leaders and local stakeholders in the collective search for development solutions for the communities' well-being.

Agroaceite has set up a Human Development Center for the communities, with medical clinics and programs for mothers and children. The center is managed and staffed by physicians from the University of Colorado, USA, as well as Guatemalan physicians. This project was honored by RSPO in 2019.

The General Secretary of RSPO granted Gustavo Bolaños, COO of Agroaceite, the RSPO Excellence Award 2019 in the category of Community Impact for the implementation of the "Human Development Center" project. Regarding Bolaños' project, he said, "This reflects the company's integral vision of providing access to high quality education and health care." The RSPO Impact Report 2019 mentions the recognition of Agroaceite (Page 38).

About the Human Development Center, Francisco Naranjo, RSPO Representative for Latin America, said, "I was pleasantly impressed by the high quality service offered to the surrounding community. This is a good example of the kind of impact that RSPO certification aims to achieve: to improve people's quality of life within the company's area of influence."

Agroaceite's most recent social project involves the community of Tres Cruces, in the area of Manchón Guamuchal. They were provided with supplies and cement transportation by boat to remodel the health center. The floor was cast with cement, concrete benches were installed so people would not have to wait standing up, restrooms were rebuilt and paint was donated to allow the health center to provide its services in a more suitable and comfortable environment.

In addition, food was donated to benefit 111 families at Las Tres Cruces, contributing to the relief of the crisis they had due to COVID-19. Learn more about other Agroaceite's community projects.