Workers at the Avicola Sofia plant in La Paz, Bolivia, with their new Snorkel S3219E scissorlift, inside a refrigerated storage unit.

Leading Bolivian Food Producer Buys Snorkel Electric Scissorlifts

Aug. 3, 2017
Ahern Chile, the sales and service provider for Snorkel lifts in Latin America, has delivered its first Snorkel electric scissorlifts into Bolivia.

Ahern Chile, the sales and service provider for Snorkel lifts in Latin America, has delivered its first Snorkel electric scissorlifts into Bolivia.

Two Snorkel S3219E electric scissorlifts were delivered to Avícola Sofia, one of the largest food producers in the region, in April 2017. Avícola Sofia has since added to its fleet with two Snorkel S4732E electric scissolifts delivered in June.

Founded in 1976 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Sofia Ltda. started out in poultry before expanding to a wider range of meat products that today includes the production of hamburgers and frozen foods. Sofia Ltda. was the first food production company in Bolivia to achieve ISO certification for food safety along with the BPM Good Manufacturing Practices Certification which it has maintained since 2006.

The Snorkel S3219 will be used within the Sofia’s La Paz, Bolivia, plant, for installation projects and facilities maintenance. The Snorkel S4732E scissorlifts will work inside the refrigerated storage unit. The scissorlifts were sold and will be serviced by ASERPRO in Santa Cruz, a local dealer for Ahern Chile, and were handed over by Carlos Vejar, regional service manager for Ahern Chile, who performed the pre-delivery inspection, and provided familiarization training onsite with the Avícola Sofia team.

“We selected the Snorkel scissorlifts based on their robust build quality and simplicity of operation and maintenance,” said engineer Walter Melgares, chief project manager at Avícola Sofia. “We have been extremely impressed with the service provided by ASERPRO and Ahern Chile and look forward to developing our relationship in the future.”

“We are incredibly grateful to Avícola Sofia for putting their trust in Snorkel, Ahern Chile and our valued partner, ASERPRO,” said Brody McFarland, vice president of sales for Latin America for Snorkel. “It is an honor to deliver the first Snorkel electric scissorlifts into Bolivia, and we look forward to supporting this customer and building our presence in the region moving forward.”