The mysterious company, falsely Mexican, opened a La Favorita butcher shop in the central market

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez / Olea Gallardo, Havana, June 20, 2025 — A new business has just joined the fever of dollarization in Havana. And not just anywhere, but in the largest and oldest market of the capital, Cuatro Caminos, in Centro Habana. This is a butcher shop of the firm Richmeat, which three months ago signed an agreement with Cimex to manage a whole complex of shops under the name of La Favorita, as some of its products are called.
Just a few days after opening, the place looks pristine, clean and perfectly air conditioned. A blue and yellow balloon decoration shows that the opening is recent. All of the employees address anyone who enters with the same question: “Can I help you with something?”
The variety of the offers – pork, boneless or seasoned chicken, house brand picadillo (El Cocinerito), sausages, burgers… – contrast with the freely convertible currency (MLC) part of the Plaza, only a few years ago well stocked and now languishing.

As if to separate the new venue from the old, which is gradually being abandoned, they changed the entrance. Previously accessed through a door in front of the products in MLC, clients now enter through the main facade of Cuatro Caminos. “The hard currency gets the red carpet,” an old man mocked in front of the new butcher shop.
“Here there is almost nothing, but look there, girl, in dollars,” indicated a custodian of the place to a client. Nothing was said about the poor quality of continue reading
La Favorita will soon open a branch in a privileged enclave, the Náutico de La Habana, a shopping center close to the exclusive club of the same name, in the municipality of Playa. That was going to be the first of the shops according to the agreement between Richmeat and Tiendas Caribe, announced by the authorities, but the one of Cuatro Caminos has advanced without explanations.
An employee confirmed to this newspaper that the plan to open that butcher shop in the western part of the city is still ongoing, predictably also in dollars.
The poor quality of the products of the Richmeat factory does not prevent the company from becoming more and more prosperous
The official press indicated last March that in a “first stage” of the agreement with Cimex they would have not only the Playa store, but three more. As “the project progresses,” said Cubadebate, “its expansion to other territories of the country will be planned.” They did not say at that time, however, that the sale of products would be in dollars.
This agreement was the second of its kind by the state corporation belonging to the Group of Business Administration (Gaesa), after the one signed with Vima for the store at Infanta and Santa Marta, in Centro Habana, inaugurated last January.
This is not the only similarity between the two brands. Like the one founded by the Spaniard Víctor Moro Suárez, Richmeat products are little appreciated by Cubans, although they often represent the only protein option in the basket amid perpetual scarcity. “No one wants to eat the picadillo” is the comment of many consumers when they receive those tubes of 400 and 800 grams, which are marketed under the brand of El Cocinerito and La Favorita, respectively.
Another coincidence with Vima is that both companies are registered abroad, in Mexico in the case of Richmeat, but neither is known in their respective countries. In Cuba they have preeminence and receive all kinds of hospitality.
There is no indication that Richmeat is a truly Mexican company and not a Cuban firm “disguised” as foreign
Beyond its legal registration, effectively in Mexico, and the nationality of both its president, Luis Alberto González Hernández, and its vice president, Alejandra Chapela Díaz – both present at the signing of the recent agreement with Tiendas Caribe – there is no indication that Richmeat is a truly Mexican company and not a Cuban firm “disguised” as foreign.
As 14ymedio found, the most important Mexican meat industry agencies do not have this company registered: neither the National Agri-Food Certification and Verification Agency, nor the National Association of Establishments Type Federal Inspection (ANETIF) or the Mexican Meat Council.
Even more significant is that the National Service of Health, Safety and Agri-food Quality (Senasica), the Mexican authority responsible for issuing animal health certificates for exporting meat and products derived from it, has no news of Richmeat. “This must be because it operates directly in Cuba, and its products do not come from Mexico,” an official of that agency who asked for anonymity told this newspaper.

According to a knowledgeable source, Richmeat purchases the meat in Cuba, not in Mexico. This would explain the poor quality of the products. Meat in Mexico has an established reputation, and it’s no wonder the country is one of the world’s leading exporters of beef. According to this source, Richmeat buys the meat on the island, and one of the sites where they buy is the Rigoberto Corcho Credit and Service Cooperative (CCS), in Artemisa.
That it is truly Cuban and not Mexican would explain the “constant presence” of Richmeat “for more than eight years,” which the official press often emphasizes, “even in the most critical periods during the covid-19 pandemic”.
What is clear are the privileges received by the firm. It is often praised by the authorities and now has a location in Havana’s main market. This suggests that it is most likely a company controlled by the Cuban leadership, and the view is that it is expanding.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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