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1962:
 

German immigrants Walter Stengel and Marcos Hinztler found in Talcahuano Pesquera El Golfo y Cía. Ltda., a company for hake trawling that markets the fresh catch mainly in Santiago.
     
     
   
     
1976:
 ____

El Golfo buys the shrimp boats Quillay, Maitén, Felita and Angelica. It is the beginning of the company’s prawn and shrimp catching operations. El Golfo’s first freezing plant is built.
     
     
   
     
1980:
  

A fishing ban for prawn is imposed by Chilean authorities. El Golfo diversifies with fishmeal and fish oil production, centered at small plant located at the southern port of San Vicente.
     
     
1986:
 ___

The company is bought by its present directors: Manuel and Jaime Santa Cruz, Hugo Yaconi, Mario Vinagre and Ernesto Noguera. The new Pesquera El Golfo S.A., with a staff of around 200, gets new technologies and a more professional management. It is the beginning of an era of modernization and expansion to foreign markets.
     
     
   
     
1991:
  

El Golfo gains strength in the fishmeal and frozen fish markets, both in Chile and abroad. The main goal at this stage is to put in the market products with a greater value added. The company starts production of surimi from jack mackerel and soon becomes one of the main surimi producers in the world.
     
     
1995:  

El Golfo is awarded the Best Exporter 1995 prize by Sociedad de Fomento Fabril (SOFOFA), Chile’s oldest and most prestigious trade association. The previous year it had been awarded the Best Company of the Year prize by the Concepción Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
     
     
   
  _  
1998:  

The Coating and Breading plant is built and El Golfo Comercial begins its operations as the retail branch of the company. Hake and kingclip fillets as well as a new line of breaded fish products make the El Golfo brand widely known in the domestic Chilean market.
     
     
   
 
2000:  

A second fishmeal plant is built in Corral (X Region).

 
2003:  

El Golfo’s corporate headquarters building is inaugurated in Talcahuano. Its new frozen seafood and surimi plants, also located in Talcahuano, rank among the most modern in the international seafood industry. The company employs over 1500 workers. We take up the challenge of scallop farming to stay ahead in matters of market dynamics and consumer tastes. Our first scallop farm is set up in Antofagasta.

     
     
   
     
     
     
2004: ___

Opening of the Madrid branch office. El Golfo Europe is a new division of the company, created to be closer to our international markets and acquire a better knowledge of our customers’ needs.
     
     
2005:  
El Golfo’s mussel farms are set up at Quinchao, on Chiloé isle (Southern Chile). The production is processed in a new plant at Chonchi, on the southeastern shore of the island.
     
     
   
     
     
     
2005:  
Renowned by the quality of its products all over Chile, El Golfo goes international: El Golfo Argentina soon becomes one of the top players in the local retail market; Argentina is now the company’s springboard to Latin America.
     
     
2006:  
The biggest challenge taken up by El Golfo so far: salmon farming. Our salmon farms located in the Guatecas Archipelago (XI Region, southern Chile) start production in 2007 and the updated Talcahuano processing plant delivers salmon products to the world markets. A new good quality job opportunity is opened for our workers.
   
 
     
   
     
     
     
2007:  
Two decades of hard work and innovation have borne fruit: El Golfo is a household brand for the most demanding consumers in over 40 countries. On land and at sea, the people of El Golfo turn the riches of the Chilean ocean into products of the finest quality. It is thanks to the commitment and efforts of our staff of over 1600 men and women that we are traveling under full sail to the future.