Businessman José Luis Cutrale, owner of the Sucocitrico Cutrale orange juice company, died this Wednesday (17), aged 75, in London, England, of natural causes. The death was confirmed by the company.
In a statement, Cutrale’s children, Júnior, Henrique and Graziela Cutrale said they regret the death of their “dear father, teacher and mentor”.
José Luis began his career working with his father, José Cutrale Júnior, the “King of Laranja”, at the Cantareira Municipal Market, in São Paulo. They began to invest in the cultivation and planting of oranges and, 20 years later, in 1967, they founded Cutrale, in Araraquara (273 km from SP), one of the largest orange juice factories in the world.
The only child of José Cutrale Júnior, who died in 2004 at the age of 77, José Luis inherited his father’s empire. In a note, the family claims to be a person of few words, big commitments and easy treatment. Described as brilliant in business, he was married for nearly 50 years to Rosana Falcioni Cutrale, with whom he had three children.
The businessman in the industrial sector diversified the family business and started in the fields of fresh oranges, orange juice, grains, logistics, bananas, salads, condiments, soft drinks, snacks, financial, real estate and health.
In the early 2010s, it is estimated that Cutrale was responsible for 1 in 3 glasses of orange juice produced in the world. Currently, the empire consists of seven units and exports juice to more than 90 countries. During the harvest, it employs around 18 thousand employees.
Cutrale participated in a council in the Lula government
The sole heir of the “King of Orange”, businessman José Luis Cutrale was part of the Economic and Social Development Council during Lula’s first term, in 2002. In August of that year, Cutrale was the first large company to make an official donation to the program Zero Hunger, in the amount of R$ 4 million.
The gesture was made official with the presentation of a giant check at an agricultural festival in Araraquara, in front of President Lula, who visited the city, and Mayor Edinho Silva (PT), now in his third term in the municipality.
Through Edinho, Cutrale was part of the agribusiness entrepreneur group that supports Lula’s campaign in the region. Among his concerns were the party’s hostility towards large landowners, a concern that Lula addressed.
One of the partnerships signed with Edinho in 2001 resulted in the Orange Juice in School Meals program, in effect to this day in Araraquara, which distributes free orange juice in school lunches to public school students three times a week. The project currently serves 23,000 students.
Company started with 60 employees
Founded in 1967, Sucocítrico Cutrale Ltda. started its activities with 60 employees. The company specializes in orange juice, although it currently has other products in its portfolio, and operates in the citrus industry from the formation of seedlings for planting, through the processing of orange juice and its by-products, to final delivery in large world markets.
It has factories in Araraquara, Colina, Conchal, Uchôa and Itápolis, and offices in Avaré, all in São Paulo, in addition to a unit in Rondonópolis, Mato Grosso. It also operates two port terminals in Santos and Guarujá, on the coast of São Paulo.
From the orange, the company not only extracts the juice, but also pulp bran, which is sold in the form of pellets for animal feed, and essential oils, which can be used in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and cleaning products industries.
Currently, 98% of orange juice production is exported to more than 90 countries in North America, Europe and Asia.
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