Key Facts
—Deal. Molinos Río de la Plata, an Argentine food group, agreed on Friday 13 November to buy the Tía Maruca cookie brand.
—Price. Not disclosed. Closing date and regulatory approvals were not stated.
—Plant. Molinos took over a cookie plant in Tucumán province in early November.
—Pace. Tía Maruca is Molinos’ fifth purchase of 2026, after NotCo, Etchart, Ayudín and the plant.
—Power Index. Argentina ranks 4th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 60.2 points (November 2026 edition).
An Argentine food group has bought a cookie brand that many Argentines grew up with, and it has not said what it paid.
What Molinos Bought
Molinos Río de la Plata, an Argentine food group listed on the Buenos Aires stock exchange, announced on Friday 13 November 2026 that it signed an agreement to buy the Tía Maruca cookie brand. The deal covers 100% of the brand, in Argentina and in the other markets where it is sold, and the price was not disclosed.
Agustín Llanos, Molinos’ chief executive, said in Spanish that the company’s commitment is “cuidar su esencia”, to look after the brand’s essence, and to strengthen it with Molinos’ industrial capacity. The group is chaired by Luis Pérez Companc, a member of the Pérez Companc family that controls it.
The agreement was signed with Tía Maruca Argentina S.A., the company that owns the brand. Pablo Tamburo, chief executive of Argensun Foods, the brand’s co-owner, also commented on the sale.
Where the Brand Has Been
Tía Maruca entered a court-supervised debt restructuring, known in Argentina as a concurso preventivo, in 2019. In 2024 Argensun Foods, the owner of the Pipas snack brand, bought 50% of the company and took operational and strategic control.
Tía Maruca is an established Argentine cookie label. Molinos is buying an existing label rather than starting a new one.
Why Cookies, and Why Now
Molinos announced in September that it would buy a cookie plant in Banda del Río Salí, in Tucumán province, from a local food business called Complejo Alimenticio San Salvador. The sale became official in early November, and the plant makes crackers, sweet cookies and filled cookies and can also receive and mill wheat.
Together the two purchases give Molinos both a place to bake and a label to sell. A familiar brand is easier to place on supermarket shelves than a new one, which matters in a category Molinos entered only this year.
Molinos also agreed in June to buy the Argentina and Uruguay business of NotCo, a Chilean plant-based food company, and has bought Etchart, a wine producer in Salta province. In October it agreed to buy Grupo Ayudín, a cleaning-products group, which makes Tía Maruca the fifth purchase of 2026 when the Tucumán plant is counted.
What It Means for You
For a reader in the United States, the deal shows how one large Argentine group is spreading its bets under President Javier Milei: five purchases in 2026 across cookies, plant-based food, wine and cleaning products. Investors who follow the Buenos Aires-listed shares cannot yet size the cost, because Molinos has not published the price.
Shoppers in Argentina will see Tía Maruca on the shelf as before, since Molinos says it wants to keep the brand’s character. The company has given no timetable for changes to products or prices.
For wider background on the Argentine consumer, see our coverage of falling mass consumption and of weekly food prices. The country page, Argentina news, collects the latest business stories.
What Is Not Known
Neither the price nor the closing date has been published, and no filing with Argentina’s securities regulator, the Comisión Nacional de Valores (CNV), sets out the terms. It is also unclear whether Argentina’s competition authority must approve the deal.
Molinos has not said whether any Tía Maruca factory or staff transfer, or where the cookies will be made. The brand’s former plant in Albardón, in San Juan province, is described differently in different accounts, so we leave its status out.
See also: our argentina population ethnic groups explained guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Molinos agree to buy?
Molinos signed an agreement on Friday 13 November 2026 to buy 100% of the Tía Maruca cookie brand, in Argentina and the other markets where it sells. The price was not disclosed.
Who owns Molinos Río de la Plata?
Luis Pérez Companc chairs the group, which is part of the Pérez Companc family’s businesses. Its shares trade on the Buenos Aires stock exchange.
Who is selling Tía Maruca?
The agreement was signed with Tía Maruca Argentina S.A., the brand’s owner. Since 2024 the Argensun Foods group, owner of the Pipas snack brand, has run it.
What else has Molinos bought in 2026?
It bought the Argentina and Uruguay business of NotCo, the Etchart wine producer, a cookie plant in Tucumán and the Ayudín cleaning-products group. Tía Maruca is the fifth purchase.
Sources
Molinos Río de la Plata statements on the Tía Maruca agreement, 13 November 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error