Uruguay, a world reference in food security

Because of its trust, security and exceptional quality, the country is chosen by companies around the world to develop their business.

Uruguay is one of the most valued food producers in the world for the excellence, exquisite taste and food safety it offers. It also has a long tradition in agro-industrial exports.

The combination of optimal natural conditions for production, the application of state-of-the-art technologies and access to markets with high quality standards make Uruguay an ideal country for the production of agro-industrial goods or with the capacity to continue increasing its product offer in the international market.

The prestige of Uruguayan products has opened the country's doors to the most demanding markets in the world. Currently, its products are found on the tables of more than 150 countries, from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada to Italy, Spain, Germany and China.

Uruguay holds the world record for the number of cows per inhabitant, with an average of 3.5 animals per person. It produces ten times more food than its population and exports 67% of its meat to the world's most demanding customers. With this product it reaches about 50 markets and is one of the top ten meat exporters in the world.

Its temperate climate and fields with distant horizons, without stress, favour the development of livestock farming. Uruguayan cows live outdoors all year round and feed on natural and fresh pastures.

However, the country decided to go further and added science to tradition. Today it has one of the most complete and sophisticated information systems in the world.

The good reputation gained by Uruguayan meat is due to the fact that production is carried out in natural conditions, free of hormones and antibiotics and especially to the traceability system by law, applied for more than a decade to 100% of the cattle and through which the consumer can know all the information about the food that comes from nature to the table.

Livestock farming in Uruguay is also accompanied by a set of measures for the care of natural resources, crop rotation, sustainable production and soil care.

Other foods that stand out in the country for their outstanding production are dairy products and rice. Uruguay is also one of the main producers of quality soybeans, is among the top six meat and soybean exporters in the world, and is the leading rice exporter in Latin America and the fifth in the world.

The Uruguayan rice sector has the highest levels of technological incorporation in the world and Uruguay is among the countries with the highest yield per hectare. It is a crop that is sown in close relationship with the generation of technology and is strongly export-oriented, as it exports more than 94% of production.

In the case of soybean, the crop had a very rapid growth, with a very large expansion of total production, which led Uruguay to position itself among the exporting countries, with China as the main destination.

The extraordinary Uruguayan traceability system also reaches the production of poultry, honey, citrus and wine, among other products.

Its crops benefit from the development of agro-intelligent technology that allows consumers to have access to information on the management of phytosanitary elements in the field, nutrition and irrigation, among other factors, guaranteeing food safety.

This shows the importance of this sector and the confidence of buyers and investors who legitimize Uruguay as a producer and exporter of reliable food, a business centre and a gateway to a market of no less than 400 million people.