Historically, India and China have been the world leading producers of sesame. Venezuela, since the 1950s, has become a prominent figure in the production of this commodity, which is used for the manufacturing of bread and desserts, the production of pure sesame oil and in a significant percentage for international markets.

In 1992 a group of young Venezuelan professionals, specialized in the areas of Agricultural Engineering and sesame production, set out an ambitious agricultural project aimed at supporting the development of the Turen area in the Middle Western part of Venezuela to bridge paths for the sesame export to international markets.

The beginning of the company was not easy, human talent had to be trained in order to successfully meet the challenge; the necessary infrastructure had to be built to ensure the production, the quality, and the quantity of the product over time; and last but not least, to coach a group of agricultural producers, keen on the idea to build an agro-industrial conglomerate that gave the project feasibility.

Venezuela has progressed on a large-scale growth of sesame, since the national average of a producer is 50 ha (or 1,250 acres) with an average yield of 400 kg (or 900 Lb) per ha, the world average of which is 500 to 550 kg (or 1,100 to 1,200 Lb). This indicator shows that we have an important work to do in order to reach the average world production, and at the same time, that we are on the right track.

GUESA’s human talent is made up of 113 workers who commonly held positions in Technical or Field areas, Quality, Plant and Maintenance, Warehouse, Dispatch, Governmental agencies, Customs Logistics, Administration, Accounting and Physical Safety in order to maintain and develop the project and its markets.

GUESA consists of an industrial plant that comprises a production area of 18,340 m² (or 197,500 ft²); equipment for processing and selection of sesame and a committed group of people who do their best, day after day, to achieve an excellent quality product in order to meet the requirements of the markets it serves.

90% of sesame is mainly exported to Mexico and Guatemala, secondarily to a number of Asian countries, and 5% for domestic consumption.

GUESA’s fundamental basis is the production of quality seeds and of excellent phenotypic characteristics. To this end, it has a sowing area of 20 ha and a greenhouse in the Aguirre area, where the genetic seeds are developed and selected, then they are delivered to the producers for the sowing.

GUESA allies’ agricultural producers receive these seeds specially selected as well as consultancy plans, in order to ensure high production performances per hectare and financing and purchasing of their crops at the best market prices. Thanks to this effort, GUESA has an area of twenty-five thousand ha of land (or 62,000 acres) for a yearly production of ten thousand tons of seeds.

Yet GUESA’s effort does not end with de agro-industrial process. Its work goes far beyond. Respecting the spiritual and human values which are at the very heart of its shareholders thought:

“We founded GUESA with a family concept, besides having a profitable company, we wanted to start up a company guided by the highest human values, we not just created a company, but a family, we are very concerned about the daily environment of each one of our members, we support them in any difficulty and we make sure that their living standards improve each year.”

Likewise, it performs a deep social work among the communities where it is established, through different support programs to education and religious values, based upon a profound devotion to Virgin Coromoto, Patroness of Venezuela, and venerated in the community of Guanare, where she appeared more than three hundred sixty-five years ago, in our Portuguesa State.

GUESA looks to the future, with the understanding that food production is a worldwide scope. With this in mind, the company has been undergoing a diversification and growth process to offer other high-quality agricultural items, via the production and supply of Chia, mung bean and Azuki, which are high demanded products in the United States and Asia.

GUESA is an agro-industrial company with a strong social sense, oriented through the creative contribution of its people to the generation of value for its environment and shareholders; to the planned investment for the orderly growth of its infrastructure; to the unwavering commitment with its customers and suppliers; and to the support to the communities where it is established in order to contribute to the development and promotion of the high-quality agricultural products, made in Venezuela for the world.