Alqueria is owned by the following: (i) Cavelier Family: The largest shareholder of Alqueria, with 93.8% of the shares of the Company; (ii) IFC: holds 4.4% of the Company trough convertible preferred shares; and (iii)  Alianza Fiduciaria: owns 1.8% of Alqueria’s in the form of convertible preferred shares, represented by Humberto Polania, former main shareholder of Freskaleche, a dairy company acquired by Alqueria in 2015 .

The funds will strengthen Alqueria’s capital structure to support its expansion program for 2017- 2021 that expects to: (i) Consolidate the identified synergies with Freskaleche in the Santander Region in distribution, raw milk access, transport, administration, and branding strengths; (ii) Reach a higher market penetration in the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts via increased commercial / marketing efforts; (iii) Increase its share in the yogurt segment by the recent acquisition of DASA; (iv) Develop new value added products, such as different kind of yogurts, 100% fruit based juices, almond beverages, whey products and others; and (v)  Ally with strategic third parties in the distribution of juices. Alqueria has a vast distribution network of +160,000 points of sale.                                                   

Alqueria is headquartered in Cajica, Cundinamarca. The Company has production facilities in several regions across Colombia.

The Company and shareholders are committed to good CG practices, however Alqueria is still a family-owned business. IFC’s presence as a Board member should bring several improvements at the CG level.                                                   

 This is a category B project according to IFC’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability, because it will create limited adverse environmental and social risks and/or impacts that are few in number,  site-specific, largely reversible that  can be minimized, avoided or mitigated by adhering to generally recognized performance standards, guidelines, or design criteria. 

Key E&S risks associated with this project include food safety, occupational health and safety, effluents from industrial sites, solid waste management, energy and water consumption, vehicular accidents linked to raw milk collection and finished products distribution network, potential biodiversity, and risks in the milk supply chain in frontier regions.