The fruit-canning industry in Chile, c. 1895-1930. A case of not-frustrated industrial development

Abstract

This article examines the growth of the fruit-canning industry in Chile, from the late-nineteenth century into the first decades of the twentieth century. This process was the result of the initiative of innovative entrepreneurs who, for the most part, did not belong to the business elites or the class of large landowners that dominated Central Chile’s agriculture. These new industrialists developed large-scale production of canned fruit, specialty crops, and legumes through vertical integration and by connecting the emerging fruticulture with a food-producing industrial subsector geared for the domestic market. Unlike those entrepreneurs linked to the export sector, the fruit-canning industrialists invested profits to increase production and modernize their firms. In addition, just like in other sectors, the fruit-canning industry was formed by Chilean and foreign entrepreneurs, who created solid family businesses that, in some cases, were active for several decades.