As part of the subject “Processing of Food of Plant Origin”, taught by the teacher Pablo Oria, students of the degrees in Agricultural and Food Industries Engineering (IIAA) and Food Science and Technology (CTA), were invited to visit the chocolate factory Monper and the factory of sobaos and quesadillas El Andral.
Oria, together with the students, made guided visits to these factories in order to learn about their operation. In addition, the students had the opportunity to see the different packaging and elaboration processes carried out in the factories.
At the same time, they learned firsthand about the diversity of problems and obstacles that these types of companies in the food sector have to face on a daily basis, as well as the logistics they use in times of shortage of raw materials.
During their visit to the Monper chocolate factory, the students learned in depth about chocolate processing and how chocolate bars are prepared, whether traditional or with some extra ingredient. In addition, Monper gave UNEATLANTICO students the opportunity to create their own chocolate bars. They were also told about the cocoa shortage that the factory is currently facing and what resources are being taken to solve it.
Afterwards, the students visited the El Andral factory, which is responsible for producing and distributing traditional local products such as sobaos, quesadillas, or pastas pasiegas. During the visit, the students learned about the process and management of the packaging of the factory’s products.
It should be noted that the students of the CTA and IIAA degrees have made visits to different companies to learn in depth about the operation and current needs of the sector. Among these, the visits to Nestlé’s facilities as well as to AgroCantabria’s facilities stand out. UNEATLANTICO seeks to train its students with as much knowledge as possible, so these visits are motivated.