How a Spanish Food Products Vendor Makes Big $$$ in Cuba
It’s all about connections with the Cuban military
By Yenys Laura Prieto (El Toque)
HAVANA TIMES – A Spanish company based in La Coruña, Corporación Alimentaria Vima, made millions in profits in 2024 thanks to its food export business to Cuba, a country going through one of its worst food crises in decades. The contrast between the figures reported by the company and the reality of Cuban peso markets—empty for most of the population—is as striking as it is troubling.
According to documents filed with the Spain’s Mercantile Registry, Vima recorded a net profit of 10 million euros in 2024, a 16% increase over the previous year. Most of this revenue—at least 49 million out of the 106 million euros billed—comes from its operations in Cuba. However, the products sold by this firm are not seen in state-run markets in Cuban currency, but rather in dollarized stores, tourist hotels, and warehouses controlled by the military conglomerate GAESA.
Vima’s growth on the island is not new. The company was founded in 1994 by Víctor Moro Suarez, son of politician Víctor Moro Rodriguez, and from the beginning it has maintained a close relationship with Cuban institutions. In May 2024, during a trade fair in Havana, the firm signed an agreement with Tiendas Caribe—an entity controlled by the military—to manage 20 food markets. Shortly afterward, it created Vima Caribe, a new 100% foreign-owned subsidiary in charge of centralizing its operations on the island.
This new branch, according to documents cited by the outlet Economía Digital, aims to replace the previous model by expanding the company’s commercial capacity in an environment where foreign capital must operate with the regime’s approval. It is no coincidence that Vima’s headquarters in Havana are located in Berroa, an area linked to the military conglomerate GAESA, which controls much of the Cuban economy. Vima has also been promoted in official Cuban media, pointing to its integration with the state apparatus.
Several reports suggest that the connection between Vima and GAESA is not new. As early as 2001, the company controlled a significant portion of the food market in Cuba. In 2016, its name appeared in the Panama Papers as part of a network of firms registered in tax havens. Despite this, it has continued to operate without visible obstacles. In 2022, it was listed in Cuba’s National Registry of Foreign Commercial Representations—a formal step that appeared to come decades late.
The paradox is clear. While a foreign company makes millions selling products that most Cubans cannot afford, the population suffers from chronic food shortages. Vima’s story shows how certain business players manage to thrive amid Cuba’s crisis—provided they have the right connections.
According to its founder in an interview with a Spanish outlet, the key to success has been finding a niche and avoiding political involvement. A strategy that has allowed the company to establish itself as a key supplier to the tourism sector—but one that excludes the portion of the population without access to foreign currency.
First published in Spanish by El Toque and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.
The presence of Vima in Cuba is a reflection of the hopeless idiocy and incompetence of the Raul Castro-Diaz-Canel regime. It may also reflect the secret corruption occuring behind the scenes such as who is paying for the expensive tuition and living expenses of Diaz-Canel’s stepson at the most expensive private university in Spain.
Common sense would dictate that a country that has been deprived of much foreign exchange from a variety of reasons: incompetence, Covid, declining tourism, energy deficit, inability to trade freely with other nations due to the intensified US blockade and economic sanctions, would agressively engage in import substitution. Instead, the Diaz-Canel cabal can only think of opening the doors to companies like Vima to sell products like tomato sauce and puree. Notwithstanding the fact that it doesn’t take rocket science to produce tomato sauce (nor poultry nor beans and nor other basic food items).
We do not know what happened to the glorified crook, Alejandro Gil Fernandez, who passed for Economic Minister and introduced the dolarization process until, let’s not forget, until US Customs at Tampa International Airport , caught his money-laundering mule and blew the lid off his criminal racket.
Sooner of later we will also learn about why the cabal has abandoned and replaced Cuban agriculture with foreign agro-business typically-based in Spain, and what favors they are getting under the table, so-to-speak.
Moses is 100% correct I know of at least 9 firms and over 20 co ops that worked with non-profit agencies that the Cuban gov ended up taking over and not paying for many items and equipment used in joint ventures
As much as it sucks that millions of dollars are being made by this Spanish food company through a less than arms length deal with GAESA, one thing is certain: eventually Cuba will screw Vima over. It will probably be over money. The Cubans never fail to double-cross their business partners. Remember when Fidel decided to walk away from the International Monetary Fund debt that Cuba owed? Nonetheless, there are foreign companies that have had long-term relationships with Cuba. They just have not not been screwed over yet.