Located in the municipality of Goiana, it was founded in 1910 by Colonel Francisco Vellozo de Albuquerque Melo, João Joaquim de Mello Filho and José Henrique Cézar de Albuquerque (the firm Mello, Vellozo & Cézar).
From 1921 to 1922, it crushed 550 to 600 tonnes of sugarcane per day and produced 91,500 sacks of sugar.
In 1929, it had 12 fields and the capacity to process 600 tonnes of sugarcane and produce 5,000 litres of ethanol in 22 hours.
In the milling period around 150 workers were employed at the factory, and the most-cultivated sugarcane type was ‘manteiga’ (butter). It had a 60km-long railway, five locomotives and 200 cars. The transportation of sugarcane and fuel was by its own railway, and sugar and ethanol were transported by sea.
It had a large workers’ village, its employees had accident insurance, and the factory maintained two schools with an average annual attendance of 30 students.
In 1937 it was sold to João Pereira dos Santos and nine more partners. Under his command, the Companhia Agroindustrial de Goiana (Goiana Agro-industrial Company) was created, the current owner of the factory, with João Pereira dos Santos as its majority shareholder, who bought the shares from the other owners of the company, making him the sole proprietor.
Santa Teresa is one of the most important sugarcane factories in Pernambuco, with an annual production of 1,800,000 sacks of granulated refined sugar.
Recife, 7 August 2003.
(Updated on 9 September 2009).
Translated by Peter Leamy, January 2012.
sources consulted
ANDRADE, Manuel Correia de. História das usinas de açúcar de Pernambuco. Recife: FJN. Ed. Massangana, 1989. 114 p. (República, v.1)
GONÇALVES & SILVA. O assucar e o algodão em Pernambuco. Recife: [s.n.], 1929. 90 p.
MOURA, Severino. Senhores de engenho e usineiros, a nobreza de Pernambuco. Recife: Fiam, CEHM, Sindaçúcar, 1998. 320 p. (Tempo municipal, 17).
how to quote this text
Source: GASPAR, Lúcia. Santa Teresa (St Theresa) Sugarcane Factory. Pesquisa Escolar Online, Joaquim Nabuco Foudation, Recife. Available at: <http://basilio.fundaj.gov.br/pesquisaescolar/>. Accessed: day month year. Exemple: 6 Aug. 2009