| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
Old compressor | |
| Location | Fray Bentos, Río Negro Department, Uruguay |
| Criteria | Cultural: (ii), (iv) |
| Reference | 1464 |
| Inscription | 2015 (39th Session) |
| Area | 273.8 ha (677 acres) |
| Buffer zone | 2,127.7 ha (5,258 acres) |
| Coordinates | 33°7′4″S58°19′54″W / 33.11778°S 58.33167°W Coordinates: 33°7′4″S58°19′54″W / 33.11778°S 58.33167°W |
  Location of Frigorífico Anglo del Uruguay in Uruguay. | |
The Frigorífico Anglo del Uruguay was a meatpacking plant located at Fray Bentos, Uruguay, on the Uruguay River bank.
Fray Bentos is the capital city of the Río Negro Department, in south-western Uruguay. Its port on the Uruguay River is one of the nation's most important harbours. The city hosts the first campus of the Technological University, beside the historically relevant industrial complex Anglo, a World Heritage site. One of the biggest pulp mills in the world is situated close to Fray Bentos and the Libertador General San Martín Bridge; it was the center of the largest political dispute between Uruguay and Argentina during the 21st century.
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in the southeastern region of South America. It borders Argentina to its west and Brazil to its north and east, with the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. Uruguay is home to an estimated 3.44 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo. With an area of approximately 176,000 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), Uruguay is geographically the second-smallest nation in South America, after Suriname.
The Uruguay River is a river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La Mesopotamia from the other two countries. It passes between the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil; forms the eastern border of the provinces of Misiones, Corrientes, and Entre Ríos in Argentina; and makes up the western borders of the departments of Artigas, Salto, Paysandú, Río Negro, Soriano, and Colonia in Uruguay.
In 1924, the Vestey group purchased the old facilities of Liebig Extract of Meat Company and the production went under a new name. Products were sold in Europe under the brand name Fray Bentos .
The Vestey Group is a privately owned UK group of companies, comprising an international food product business and significant cattle ranching and sugar cane farming interests in Brazil and elsewhere. Union International, the former core of the Vestey family business, went into receivership in 1995.
The Fray Bentos food brand is associated with tinned processed meat products, originally corned beef and, latterly, meat pies. The brand has been sold in the United Kingdom, other European countries, and Australia. Created in the latter half of the 19th century, the name is derived from the port of Fray Bentos in Uruguay where the products were originally processed and packaged until the 1960s. The brand is now owned in the UK by Baxters, which manufactures the product range in Scotland. Additionally, the Campbell Soup Company manufactures and sells Fray Bentos branded steak and kidney pies in Australia.
During its peak period, El Anglo had 5,000 workers whose ranks included English, Belgians, Russians, Spanish and Italians. It finally closed in 1979 after Europe and the United States had cut back their purchases from Latin America. Small brick houses with thick walls running along the river's edge in Fray Bentos form the "Barrio Anglo," a city-within-a-city where meatpacking workers lived that featured a hospital, a school, a social club and a football squad. [1]
