Day 068 - 16 Dec 94 - Page 22


     
     1        A.  I do not know about that.
     2
     3   Q.   It exports the majority of its production to America; yes?
     4        A.  I do not know about that.  I only know the side of our
     5        business.  Just to give you an idea of their size or what
     6        they export, their export levels are very, very small,
     7        compared to our suppliers, let us say, the US; they could
     8        not supply our beef need for not even an hour of our
     9        production or needs.  It is relatively big for a country
    10        who is very small, but it is not, by any means, a world
    11        player; it is not considered a world player.
    12
    13        If I may clarify, what they do export is primary cuts.
    14        Primary cuts are cuts that are, let us say, a steak, cuts
    15        that are high quality cuts.
    16
    17   Q.   They export high quality cuts?
    18        A.  What are considered high price cuts.  For our needs, we
    19        do not use those cuts.  We could not afford to use them, to
    20        put prime steak in a hamburger.
    21
    22   Q.   So the export that they do to America, for example, is high
    23        price cuts, mainly?
    24        A.  That is correct.  The rest of the secondary cuts are
    25        left in Costa Rica.
    26
    27   Q.   Right.  That is what they make patties out of, do they?
    28        A.  That is correct.
    29
    30   Q.   The high price cuts, are they frozen or are they fresh?
    31        A.  They have to be frozen in order for them to export it.
    32
    33   Q.   So the Division Barranca slaughterhouse, what happens when
    34        it goes from the slaughterhouse; is it deboned there or is
    35        it taken somewhere else to be deboned?
    36        A.  The slaughterhouse and the deboning facility are in the
    37        same place.  Costa Rica is close to the northern part, the
    38        south part of Mexico, so they do send some carcasses there
    39        to be deboned in Mexico.  They also debone locally for
    40        local needs and export products for our needs.  They
    41        debone, they package the beef and they send it to where our
    42         -- which is close by to our processing facility.  We have
    43        a separate McDonald's division within that facility that
    44        operates.  There is a clear separation.  It has its own
    45        people and its own management.
    46
    47   Q.   I did not catch that last bit -- "there is a separate
    48        deboning facility for McDonald's"?
    49        A.  No.  The processing facility, it is divided, so that it
    50        is our own side. 
    51 
    52   Q.   Wait until we get to the processing.  We have the 
    53        slaughterhouse.  Everything goes through the
    54        slaughterhouse, and then it goes to be deboned in the same
    55        place, but some of the material they produce can be deboned
    56        in Mexico or somewhere else in Costa Rica; yes?
    57        A.  For them, yes.
    58
    59   Q.   For other people, or something, yes.  So the process plant
    60         -- the next stage is the process plant?

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