Havanna, Mar del Plata (must see)

Havanna is a leading Argentine manufacturer of food products. The company also operates its own system of franchise coffee stores and exports its products to Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Israel, Mexico, Paraguay, Perú, Spain, United States and Venezuela.

The firm was founded in 1948 by Benjamín Sisterna, Demetrio Elíades and Luis Sbaraglini and began its activities as a producer of alfajores in the city of Mar del Plata. Sisterna was a baker. The first product he made was "Alfajores Santa Mónica", created along with his partner Sbaraglini. These alfajores were offered at some points of sale in Buenos Aires for a brief time.

The products of Confitería Havanna were made to the same formula used today. Following the success of the chocolate-flavoured alfajores, other varieties were added. For a long time Havanna's alfajores were chosen by the tourists who spent their vacations at the popular seaside resort and the Havanna brand became representative of the city and of Argentina as a national product.

One key to Havanna’s long presence in the market has been the opening of coffee stores (which sell not only different varieties of coffee, but also the classic and popular Havanna products like alfajores, lemon cookies, brownies, cakes and other chocolate and dulce de leche desserts). The concept was named "Café Havanna" and the business expanded successfully, with 230 points-of-sale throughout Argentina.