One of the largest agro-industrial companies in the Caribbean José González Freyre started what is today one of the most successful companies in the country, in a period in which Puerto Rico was going through a crisis. It was 1977 and a great drought threatened the agricultural sector, right where González Freyre took his first steps as a worker. This visionary worked in his grandfather's dairy and decided to solve by himself a problem that greatly threatened to end the family business: he used his knowledge but González Freyre did not limit himself to his family business. As a prospective businessman, he redirected all his focus when he saw that there was an opportunity to offer a service to farmers, so his professional future was just beginning to take the first steps with the import of raw materials. That year, he proceeded to install his first port facility to import raw materials for manufacturing animal feed. This was installed at the Pan American Dock, in the bay of San Juan. Hence the name of the company Pan American Grain. Then, it expands to the port facilities of the Army Terminal and Pier A in Puerto Nuevo. In 1981 he buys his first cargo ship and expands to sell grains in the Caribbean, Central America and South America. The next step was to vertically integrate the company. In 1983, he opened his first animal feed mill in the Amelia neighborhood of Guaynabo. Then in 1991 he expanded to open his second animal feed mill in Bayamón. That same year he ventured into the processing of grains for human consumption, buying port facilities in Guaynabo dedicated to the production of rice. There Arroz Rico was born, which in a short time becomes the favorite of Puerto Ricans. It was the first time that the rice industry was led by a Puerto Rican. Here he buys his first ship with the American Flag and becomes the first Puerto Rican shipowner in the American Merchant Marine. He baptizes it the ZORRA, which is Arroz backwards, because he dedicates it to the transportation of rice.e to import food for the animals, and thus combat the drought. Allergens Not Contained.
