Markets - Revista F&H

SPECIAL EDITION FRUIT LOGISTICA • FEBRUARY 2012
INTERNATIONAL
Discount in Switzerland - Tomato - Aldi f ops in Greece - Apples
Discount in Spain and Italy - Courgettes - Wholesalers in Germany - Melons
Cherries in the Southern Hemisphere - Peppers - A farewell to Galia and Honey Dew
Strawberries - Organic supermarkets in the German retail business - Cucumbers
Vegetables
World

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
2

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
3

CONTENTS
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
4
Los discount se enriquecen
gracias aL sur de europa.
discount retaiLers
getting rich thanks to
southern europe.
Las razones deL adiós de
aLdi a grecia.
why aLdi withdraws
gaLia y Money dew:
buscan aLternativas.
gaLia and honey dew:
searching for aLternatives.
suiza se aLeja de Los
7
discounts.
switzerLand backs
away froM discount retaiL. eL direct sourcing
se expande.
EDITA:
direct sourcing
disseMinates.
froM greece. eL precio taMbién afecta
eL futuro de Los
Mayoristas aLeManes.
the future of gerMan
c/ turquía, 1º - edif. adriano
portal i - 6º d. 04009 almería
telf. +34 950 62 54 77
fax +34 950 14 06 89
e-mail: info@fyh.es
www.fyh.es
6
14
16
8 18
12 20
a La Manzana.
price-stricken appLes.
whoLesaLe. La fresa españoLa vueLve
a francia.
spanish strawberries
return to france.
director: Rafael I. Losilla Borreguero
coordinador: Uwe Schwießelmann
redacción y firmas: Francisco Flores, Daniel Lafuente, Esperanza Losilla, Francisco
Bonilla (fotografía). corresponsales: Francisco Seva - comimaginación (Murcia),
Pedro Alonso (kenia), Omar Sidahi Gabri (Marruecos), Natalie Traverso (chile), René
Rombouts (holanda), Giovanni Nicotra (italia).
producción y suscripciones: Trinibel Barranco. departamento comercial: Manuel Flores
(jefe de sección), Oscar Cañadas (ejecutivo de cuentas).
diseño y Maquetación: Francisco Valdivia. • imprime: Gráficas Piquer.
DEPóSITO LEGAL: AL - 270 - 2000.
ISSN: 1886 - 6484
f&h es una revista pluralista que, respetando las opiniones
de todas las colaboraciones que se insertan en la misma,
no se hace, necesariamente, partícipe de ellas.
INTERNATIONAL

22
24
26
Sections
30 Leaf
34 courgette
37 tomato
44 pepper/cucumber
46 Melon
52 brassicas
54 organic
58 strawberry
europa deManda eL
cherry chiLeno
european deMand
for chiLean cherry
toMatoes
Las pérdidas
eMpresariaLes deL
e.h.e.c.
the ehec-reLated
financiaL Losses
Las cadenas
ecoLógicas aLeManas
se reinventan.
gerMan organics
chains reinventing
theMseLves
60 tropical
62 ipM
64 apple
65 i+d
66 Lobby
68 category
71 packing
72 events
74 crops
Editorial
The miseducation
of Mr. and
Ms. Müller
Of course, “Müller” is not the Müllers’ real name.
It could equally be “Maier” or “Schulze”. I just
wanted it to sound as Germanic as possible.
When the Müllers talk about their fruit shopping habits,
there are a lot of aspects they say are important to
them. First comes quality which in the case of fruits and
vegetables includes taste. Then, they want what they call
“Einkaufserlebnis” which in English would come to mean
something like “character shopping” or “emotional shopping”.
“Fair trade” is crucial (the Müllers say) to their decisions.
They absolutely love organics (‘More taste, more
natural. And good for the environment and the climate
and all that.’). They prefer regional or at least domestic
products to imports. The appearance of the fruits is
indeed important but what really matters is what is inside
(they say): the ‘intrinsic values’. Price? ‘Of course we look
for the prices of the things we buy. But that aspect comes
last.’
That seems to be in line with what the big chains keep on
telling their suppliers of fruit and vegetables: ‘Germans
are price-conscious. But things are changing. They are
much more taste-oriented than they used to be.”
When Ms. Müller later unpacks her shopping trolly, she
looks almost guilty: ‘O.K., it’s not fair trade, but look: 79
cents a kilo!’ - bananas. ‘Right, it looks a bit unripe but I’ll
leave it on the windowsill for a few days. 99 cents.’ An
ananas. ‘Unfortunately, I couldn’t get mangoes. At tegut,
they had them but at almost 3 Euros. Last week, I bought
a Mango at Lidl that cost me 79 cents. And it wasn’t that
good at all. So, how do they expect me to spend three
Euros ...?’
Maybe those fruit traders who say that they all together,
traders and retailers, have been destroying their own
market for tasty fruits are right. And some even say that
German consumers are no longer able to really taste and
that maybe taste has always had and will always have a
secondary role in a “potatoes territory”.
That should be the supermarkets goal: undo the miseducation
of Mr. and Ms. Smith instead of trying to beat the
discounters on the pricing field.
Hall 18
A-03b
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
5

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
6
Markets
La crisis del Sur
sólo beneficia a
los discounts
eL discount
gana terreno en
españa e itaLia.
Motivo: La crisis
econóMica.
eL discount aLcanza
una cota
deL ocho por
ciento en frutas
y hortaLizas en
españa y un siete
por ciento
en itaLia.
Por Rafael Losilla
rlosilla@fyh.es
La crisis económica que sufre
el Sur de Europa –España,
Italia y Portugal- sólo beneficia
a los discounts que han
aumentado su cota de mercado
en las ventas de frutas y
verduras.
España e Italia se habían caracterizado
por no contemplar
a los discounts en las
compras de frutas y verduras
y ser los destinos con menos
presencia de este tipo de tiendas.
Pero el recrudecimiento
de la crisis económica ha
facilitado que Italia alcance
una cota de mercado superior
al siete por ciento y que
España suba hasta el ocho
por ciento.
Caso español. El fenómeno
español es más llamativo, ya
que durante 2011 la cota de
mercado de los discounts ha
pasado del seis por ciento al
ocho por ciento, según el Panel
Alimentario de España.
El principal motivo es la crisis
económica que han aprovechado
tanto Lidl como
Aldi ampliando su número
de tiendas en los dos últimos
años y creciendo, sobre todo,
en zonas industriales y barrios
periféricos.
“Los discounts saben que su
lugar se encuentra en los barrios
del exterior y en donde
la inmigración está presente”,
señalan las conclusiones del
Panel Alimentario.
Lidl ha sido el formato descuento
más agresivo en aperturas
y cerró el ejercicio 2010
con 522 establecimientos
con una clientela de 2,5 millones
de clientes a la semana.
Aldi también ha sido activa
durante 2011 y alcanzó
su tienda 250 el pasado mes
de noviembre. “Nuestro crecimiento
en España no tiene
todavía límite a medio y largo
plazo y prevemos nuevas
aperturas para 2012”, indicó
Christian Bäbler del departamento
de ventas a F&H.
Lidl y Aldi están utilizando
en España el mismo modelo
en el lineal de frutería que en
Alemania: 60 referencias, el
the discounts
are extending
in spain and
itaLy. the reason:
the econoMic
crisis.
the discounts
have reached a
share of eight
per cent in
fruits and vegetabLes
in spain
and seven per
cent in itaLy.
precio como argumento de
venta, sin programa definido
y la presencia del producto
‘commodity’.
Italia. EuroSpin es el discount
líder en Italia con más
de 800 puntos de venta en
todo el país y con una cota de
mercado superior al cuatro
por ciento en frutas y hortalizas.
Lidl es la segunda cadena
de referencia.
Durante 2011, “la población
italiana incrementó su presencia
en los discounts en un
25 por ciento”, señala el consulting
Coldiretti, quien señala
que “el 61 por ciento de
los italianos han modificado
su comportamiento de compras,
prestando más atención
a los precios en el momento
de comprar”.
Uno de los cambios es que el
55 por ciento de los italianos
dedica ahora más tiempo a la
compra y que “el 57 por ciento
afirma tirar menos frutas
y hortalizas al cubo de la basura”.

Markets
The crisis of the South
only benefits to
discounts
By Rafael Losilla
rlosilla@fyh.es
The economic crisis that the
South of Europe is undergoing-
Spain, Italy and Portugal
only benefits to discounts
which have increased the
share of market in the sales
of fruits and vegetables.
One of the characteristics
of Spain and Italy was not
to buy fruits and vegetables
in the discount stores and
to be the destinations with
less presence of this kind of
stores. But the worsening of
the economic crisis has made
easier that Italy had reached a
share of market of more than
seven per cent and Spain until
eight per cent.
Hall 1.1
A-02
The Spanish case. The Spanish
phenomenon is more
outstanding, since during
2011 the share of market of
discounts has increased from
six per cent to eight per cent,
according to the Food Panel
of Spain.
The main reason is the economic
crisis that Lidl and
Aldi have take advantage to
increase the number of stores
in the last two years mainly
in industrial zones and suburbs.
The conclusion of the Food
Panel is that “Discounts
know that their place is in the
suburbs and where there are
immigrants”.
The most important increase
of openings is Lidl closing
the year 2010 with 522 stores
and 2.5 million customers a
week. Aldi has also been active
during 2011 and reached
250 stores last month of
November. “Our growth in
Spain still has no limit a medium
and long terms and we
anticipate new openings in
2012”, Christian Bäbler of
the department of sales explained
to F&H.
Lidl and Aldi are using in
Spain the same model in the
stands of fruits than in Germany:
60 products, the price
like sale argument, without
well-defined schedule and
the presence of the “commodity”
products.
Italy. EuroSpin is the dis-
count leader in Italy with
more than 800 stores all
around the country and with
a share of market of more
than four per cent in fruits
and vegetables. Lidl is the
second chain of reference.
During 2011, “the Italian
population increased its
presence in discounts 25 per
cent, and “61 per cent of the
Italians has changed their behavior
about the purchases,
paying more attention to the
prices” ”, the consulting Coldiretti
affirms.
One of the changes is that 55
per cent of the Italians now
spend more time going shopping
and “57 per cent affirm
to throw less fruits and vegetables
to the dustbin”.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
7

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
8
Markets
Los discount The disco
no asustan en
Suiza
tres cadenas controLan eL seg-
Mento de tiendas descuento en
suiza pero este forMato goza de escasa
popuLaridad entre Los suizos.
By Uwe Schwießelmann
uwe@fyh.es
El segmento discount en Suiza
está encabezado por Denner,
desde finales de 2009
una filial del grupo Migros.
Aldi y Lidl son las otras dos
enseñas del segmento descuento
en el mercado helvético,
aunque con una penetración
escasa con respecto a
otros destinos europeos.
Aldi contempla 130 tiendas y
Lidl dispone de la mitad. Las
cadenas descuento alemanas
entraron en Suiza motivadas
por el efecto llamada, ya que
las tiendas que estaban en el
Sur de Alemania recibían las
visitas de suizos para llenar
sus carros.
Fue entonces cuando Aldi vio
una oportunidad de negocio
en Suiza y después Lidl. Años
más tarde, “los discount han
demostrado su escasa presencia
en Suiza”, señala Vladimir
Cob, responsable de
compras de Coop.
Naturaleza. Suiza ha sido tradicionalmente
un mercado
de alto precio en comparación
con sus vecinos europeos.
Cuando los gigantes
del descuento alemán empezaron
su entrada en el país
vecino, las cadenas suizas
reaccionaron para posicionarse.
Migros y Coop reaccionaron
adecuadamente cuando Aldi
entró en Suiza (marzo de
2006) y cuando posteriormente
entró Lidl (marzo de
2009). Los analistas predijeron
un rápido crecimiento
de las cadenas descuento en
Suiza e importantes pérdidas
de cuota de mercado para las
cadenas suizas. Las consecuencias
reales fueron menos
dramáticas y el formato descuento
en frutas y hortalizas
no alcanza ni una cota del
seis por ciento, con Denner
como tienda de referencia.
Cob lo tiene claro: “las tiendas
descuento no han sabido
adaptarse a las demandas y
calidades de los suizos”. Y
eso que los discounts alemanes
lanzaron ofertas por debajo
de coste como 80 centavos
de franco suizo para 500
gramos de brócoli o bandejas
de fresas de 500 gramos por
debajo del franco suizo.
La fruta y verdura se volvía a
convertir en el escaparate de
atracción de los ‘discount’.
Impactos. La penetración
de las tiendas descuento en
Suiza ha sido tan nefasta que
Lidl ha llegado a pensarse su
retirada del mercado suizo,
ya que no tiene previsto seguir
creciendo.
No obstante, Lidl ha desmentido
su intención de salir de
Suiza. ¿Hasta cuándo?.
El único impacto real que
ha tenido la presencia de las
tiendas descuento alemanas
en Suiza es que Coop y Migros
se vieron obligadas a recortar
sus precios en frutas y
hortalizas, “que algunos consideraban
excesivos”, señala
el consulting Planet Retail.
La realidad es que los precios
de las frutas y hortalizas en
Coop y Migros hoy son hasta
un 30 por ciento más económicos
en algunas categorías
que antes de la entrada de
Aldi en marzo de 2006.
three chains controL the
swiss discount segMent
but the food trade as a
whoLe is stiLL in Migros’
and coop’s hands.
The Swiss discount food retail segment
is headed by Denner, since end
of 2009 a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Migros Group, the number one Swiss
retailers ahead of COOP Genossenschaft.
These three companies are the
leaders of the Alpine country’s retailer
ranking. But as always it is virtually
impossible to speak about any European
country’s discount retail sale
without finally being talking about
Aldi and Lidl. Though about 130 Aldi
stores are far from the figures for other
Western or Central European countries
and though Lidl does not even
have half as many shops and fails to
achieve one objective after another -
the mere announcement of plans to
enter the Swiss market had a sensible
impact on the market, especially in
the case of Lidl.
Notwithstanding overall consumer
price reductions above EU level over
the last decade, Switzerland had traditionally
been a high-price market
compared to its European neighbours.
When the German discount giants
started planning their entry into the
neighbouring country, the Swiss scenario
was very much the same as in
other countries: the established retail
chains (Migros and Coop, in this case)
looked for ways to stand their ground
and the few strategies to choose between
were the same as always: 1.
expansion through internationalizatio;
2. exploiting the potential of synergy
effects through joint sourcing; 3.
starting one’s own discount channel
or competing via hypermarkets; 4.
backing and enlarging private label
products at entry-level price. Number
one was not really an option simply
because both retail chains are too
small, on a European level, and because
of their being consumers’ cooperatives.
2. Coop became one of the
cofounders of Coopernic in 2005; Migros
is a shareholder of Amsterdambased
AMS. 3. Migros buys a majority
stake in Denner in 2007 and takes
over the rest of the discount chain two
years later; Coop absorbs the EPA hypermarkets
and aacquires the big Carrefour
stores in Switzerland. 4. Both

unt retail in
Switzerland
retailers covered almost all
product groups with their
private labels; these labels’
share had traditionally been
rather high anyway, especially
in the case of Migros
who had been forced by a
politically motivated suppliers’
boycott in its early years
to establish its own Migros-
Industrie group.
So, both Migros and Coop
reacted adequately when Aldi
entered Switzerland (March
2006) and where more than
prepared for Lidl (March
2009). Analysts still predicted
a rapid growth of both
descount chains and important
losses of market share
for the Swiss chains. The actual
consequences were less
dramatic and the discount
retailers remained rather far
from their ambitious goals,
meeting with much resistance
especially on the part
of domestic growers and
directed more at Lidl than
Aldi. While the latter rather
successfully conformed to
the market’s and consumers’
practice, the former attracted
a lot of protest above all for
(allegedly) selling fruit and
vegetables at prices below the
acquisition price: 80 cents for
half a kilo of broccoli, for instance,
or a tray of strawberries
for less than one CHF.
Migros continues to account
for a food market share of
slightly over 20% (including
about 4% for Denner),
followed by Coop’s approximately
16 per cent, whereas
Aldi’s growth rate has remained
more modest than
forecasted by experts and
Lidl’s performance really has
been so poorly that Swiss
media detected what they
interpreted as clear signs of
the chain’s impending with-
Markets
drawal from the country last
November. The Lidl management,
in turn, immediately
denied that claim ruling out
a withdrawal from the Swiss
market.
The actual impact of the
whole battle on the Swiss
market was on consumer
prices. Aldi and Lidl obliged
the Swiss retail chains to cut
their prices which many consider
were excessive anyway,
and in the long run retail
trade experts expect consumer
prices to sink by 20 to
30 % compared by the levels
before 2006.
Hall 18
A-10e
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
9

10
¿Por qué la salida de
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Markets
Grecia es el primer fracaso
del discount alemán Aldi. La
cadena alemana entraba hace
dos años en Grecia aprovechando
el escenario preferido
de los discounts: las crisis.
Aldi Süd comunicaba a finales
de noviembre que cerraba
su aventura griega y sus 38
tiendas tras haber invertido
800 millones de euros en el
mercado heleno. El motivo:
Los griegos no entraban en
Aldi y la capacidad de crecimiento
estaba mermada por
el alto precio del suelo.
Los objetivos de Aldi era alcanzar
las 400 tiendas en
10 años y las 100 primeras
tiendas en 2009. El desastre
griego ha tenido repercusiones
en sus proyectos de
expansión y el discount “ha
anulado todos sus programas
de expansión en el Sur de Europa,
excepto los de España”,
señala Stelios Maridakis, antiguo
director de proyectos
de Aldi para Grecia.
Aldi
Olimpo griego?
aLdi necesita
econoMÍa de
escaLas para
ser coMpetitivo.
este objetivo no
Lo consiguió en
grecia y saLió
deL Mercado he-
Leno. es su pri-
Mer fracaso.
del
Por Rafael Losilla
rlosilla@fyh.es
No sostenibilidad. Aldi ha
declarado que su modelo de
descuento no es sostenible
en ciertos mercados del Sur
de Europa, ya que requiere de
una telaraña logística ‘dominó’
que le permita ser competitiva
en precios o sumar
una cantidad de tiendas por
encima de 100 en un mismo
destino en tan sólo un año.
Estos objetivos no fueron
conseguidos por Aldi ya que
“la cadena tuvo en sus inicios
problemas al no encontrar
locales a precios razonables
y no poder aplicar su estrategia
de precios competitivos
como si era el caso de Lidl”,
recuerda el analista Milos
Ryba de Planet Retail a la revista
F&H.
Además esta sostenibilidad
tampoco era posible en algunos
lineales complejos como
el de frutas y hortalizas, ya
que esta cadena presiona a la
baja cuando adquiere importantes
volúmenes y entre sus
proveedores hortofrutícolas
para el resto de tiendas en
Europa no hay cartera abiertas
con productores griegos.
“Sin las economías de escala
Aldi no es competitiva y en
Grecia no se habían dado estas
circunstancias”, recuerda
Maridakis. Además del fracaso
griego, Aldi se plantea sus
inversiones en los destinos
bálticos, ya que “Grecia formaba
parte de la economía
de las futuras escalas en Serbia
o Croacia”, recuerda Maridakis.
Estas economías de escala sí
se están dando en Lidl, que
ya cuenta con 200 tiendas y
si puede jugar con volúmenes
entre los proveedores hortofrutícolas
y alcanzar precios
competitivos. De hecho, Lidl
ha anunciado que mantendrá
su crecimiento en los
mercados del Sur de Europa,
mientras que Aldi mira de
nuevo al Reino Unido.

Why has Aldi Greece?
gone out of
aLdi needs
an econoMy
of scaLes to
be coMpetitive.
this objective
has
not been
fuLfiLLed in
greece and
it has Left
the greek
Market. it
is its first
faiLure.
Greece is the first failure of the
German discount Aldi. Two
years ago the German chain
was settled in Greece taking advantage
of the preferred situation
of the discounts: the crisis.
At the end of November Aldi
Süd has communicated that
closed its Greek business and
its 38 stores after having invested
800 million Euros in
this market. The reason: the
Greeks did not come into the
Aldi stores and the capacity of
growth decreased because of
the high price of the soil.
The objective of Aldi was to
reach 400 stores in 10 years and
the 100 first stores in 2009. The
Greek disaster has had repercussions
in its plans of expansion
and discount “has cancelled
all the projects of expansion in
the South of Europe, except in
Spain”, Stelios Maridakis, old
manager of projects of Aldi for
Greece, explains.
Non sustainability. Aldi has
declared that its model of discount
is not sustainable in
certain markets of the South
of Europe, since it requires a
logistic net that could allow to
be competitive in prices or to
reach more than 100 stores in
the same destination in only
one year.
These objectives were not fulfilled
by Aldi since “at the beginning
the chain had problems
when not finding stores
for rent with reasonable prices
and not to be able to do its
strategy of competitive prices
as it was the case of Lidl”, Milos
Ryba, the analyst of Planet
Retail explained to F&H magazine.
In addition this sustainability
was not possible in some complexes
sectors like the fruits and
vegetables one, since this chain
presses with low prices when
it acquires important volumes
Markets
and among its fruit and vegetable
suppliers for the rest of
stores in Europe where there is
no open portfolios with Greek
producers.
“Aldi is not competitive without
the economies of scale
and in Greece these situation
has never happened”, Maridakis
affirms. Besides the Greek
failure, Aldi is considering its
investments in the Baltic destinations,
because “Greece was
part of the economy of the future
scales in Serbia or Croatia”,
Maridakis assures.
These economies of scale are
a reality in Lidl, that has 200
stores and it can play with
volumes among the fruit and
vegetable suppliers and reach
competitive prices. In fact, Lidl
has announced that will keep
its growth in the markets of the
South of Europe, whereas Aldi
is looking again at the United
Kingdom.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
11

12
Quo vadis,
German
wholesaler?
over the Last
years, one of
the Most frequentLy
asked
questions has
been for the
whoLesaLers’
pLace in a european
fruit and
vegetabLes Market
that is headed
to be aLMost
coMpLeteLy controLLed
by Less
than ten MuLtinationaLretaiLers
within the
present or next
decade.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Markets
By Uwe Schwießelmann
uwe@fyh.es
Stefan Burmeister is the managing
director at Brodersen &
Schacht GmbH, one of the
bigger fruit traders at the
Hamburg Wholesale Market.
and his prediction sounds
rather gloomy: “The number
of companies in the German
wholesale fruit trade will decrease
by half within the next
five years”.
At an early Friday morning
stroll across the big central
market hall, one is tempted
to think that Stefan Burmeister
is right: nothing to
do with the frenetic activity
in Perpignan or Mercamadrid
to name just two.
“Our regular clients always
come back, some of them
from hundreds of kilometers
away, because our apples are
absolutely delicious - but
whenever a retailer closes,
there is no one to take over”,
says a friendly middle-aged
man at the stand of Elbe
Obst marketing company.
Behind him, the last third of
the vaulted hall is completely
empty, no stands, no forklifts,
no buyers.
Concentration. Is the high
degree of concentration of
the German fruit retail trade
to blame for this market´s
twilight after almost fifty
years of glory?. Do the big
chains need any independent
wholesale trade at all?. “Of
course, they do”, says Philipp
Fischer, managing director at
Hars & Hagebauer.
“They buy from wholesalers,
they have always done
so and they will continue to
need them. For a fruit trade
company, the growth of a
chain can be an opportunity
to grow with them”, says Fischer.
But not all wholesalers
will get that opportunity
and the traditional wholesale
market business no doubt is
shrinking.
With a few chains dominating
the retail, big volumes
enter the markets passing
through very few hands as is
the case with the country’s
leading food retailer Edeka
who imports fruit and vegetables
via their Fruchtkontor
branch and supply them
to their own wholesale platforms.
(Of course, one must
not ignore the fact that Edeka’s
independent retailers are
free to source their products
from other suppliers, which
some experts say may account
for 25 or even up to
50% of their fresh produce
purchases).
Regional wholesalers. Few
companies can stand their
ground as big players in
the German fresh produce
wholesale business. There
are examples of big importers
like Düsseldorf-based
Fruchtimport van Wylick
GmbH who use the traditional
wholesale markets to
get to their clients apart from
direct delivery.
Then there are independent
regional wholesalers and
wholesale platforms as for
example the 27 associates
of Cobana Fruchtring; distributed
over the whole of
Germany, they benefit from
synergy effects bundling
their purchase volumes via
Cobana in Hamburg (2010
tonnage: 2.22 million tons).
A similar example is Univeg
and its 16 distribution centers
in Germany and Austria.
And, of course, there are the
wholesale branches of the
big retail groups as Edeka
or Rewe. These companies,
seeing the cash and carry
segment as one more opportunity
for growth, absorb a
further part of the shrunken
market for independent
wholesalers. What is left over
is basically the Horeca trade
channel and independent
greengrocers.
The latters are few in number
and do not reach really
important sales volumes
and the former’s volumes are
even smaller. Besides, if the
products have to be delivered
to them instead of picking
them up at the wholesale
market, the logistics cost can
make competitive pricing
impossible, above all in the
case of restaurants and the
like.
How do the remaining
roughly 90 or 95 fruit traders
at the Hamburg market
get along, then?. “Do they?”,
says Stefan Burmeister seems
to have his doubts about it.
“Not many more than just a
handful of companies stand
for about 70 or 80% of the
market’s total sales. None
of them could live on their
wholesale market sales alone
but they are closely tied to
the retail chains which is
how they earn money”.
Customer: Supermarkets.
Gerhard Burmeister, man-

ager at Frucht Service GmbH,
agrees: “Our sales to the Kaufland
hypermarkets account
for about 80% of our total
volumes. We started this
privileged relationship 13
years ago and see ourselves
more as a distribution platform
than as a wholesaler”.
That is why his company
does not even run a stand in
the market hall. “We used to
make additional purchases
here; if you needed another,
let’s say 100 pallets of a product,
it was no problem to get
them at the wholesale market.
Today, you will find it
very hard to find ten”.
Hars & Hagebauer do have a
stall in the market. Their clients
are specialist operators
of the Horeca branch in the
first place. But the stand inside
the market hall depends
on what is sold outside.
“We could never live on the
market business alone. We
depend on the retail chains:
that is where 80% of our
sales go”, says Philip Fischer.
That way, if the big retailer
orders 30 pallets of a particular
product, the intermediary
can order a full truckload,
optimizing freight costs and
leaving the three surplus pallets
at the wholesale market.
Small wholesalers. “Indeed,
it is getting harder”, says Mr.
Volker Kliewer of HAFRU
at his stall and it does not
sound too optimistic. “We
do not do any business with
the big chains but sell to independent
grocers and to
Horeca intermediaries.
“With the reduction in num-
bers of that type of clients,
the number of wholesalers
declines, too. When Thomas
Schacht started out as a fruit
trader in 1989, the only way
for him to get a stall was taking
over one of the companies
already established at
the wholesale market hall,
which is where the “Brodersen”
in “Brodersen & Schacht”
comes from. Ten years ago,
there still existed a waiting
list for applicants for a stand.
Today, by contrast, the market
management plans to
convert the unoccupied part
of the vaulted hall in a kind
of shopping zone where consumers
can buy groceries.
Down. The decline in importance
of the wholesale markets’
is not at all restricted to
the city of Hamburg. Quite
the contrary, the Hamburg
market is one of the busier
places in the fruit trade and
to many professionals it
even is Germany’s number
one wholesale market. Actually,
many fruit traders agree
that there are just two wellperforming
central markets
of import left: Hamburg, in
the first place due to the fact
that the largest part of imports
from overseas arrive at
Europe’s third biggest port,
and Munich, the gateway to
Germany for imports from
South and Southeast Europe.
Some traders think Frankfurt
should be included in that
list, too; others say Berlin or
Stuttgart.
Of course, there is more to
Germany’s independent
wholesale’s difficult situa-
tion. For example, fruit traders
depend on working with
the big retail chains but will
find it impossible to comply
with all of their different private
standards regarding pesticide
residues.
Also, payment defaults hit
small and medium companies
harder than multinationals
or nationwide operat-
Markets
ing companies. Last but not
least, there are rather narrow
limits to geographic growth:
long distances and small volumes
make transport costs
prohibitive and complicate
the solution of problems in
cases of refusal of acceptance
and the handling of complaints.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
13

14
El Galia y
el Honey Dew
se desinflan
en UE
aLeMania y reino unido van oLvidando
eL MeLón gaLia y honey dew a favor deL
cantaLoup y deL pieL de sapo.
El Honey Dew y el Galia
son las categorías de
melón más vendidas en
el Reino Unido, pero
nuevos aires de cambio
entran por la gama cantaloup
y piel de sapo.
Hoy el Honey Dew supone
el 33 por ciento de
las ventas de melón entre
los británicos, debido a
la cultura de “identificar
la tonalidad amarilla con
la maduración del fruto
y por ofrecer esta categoría
de melones un dulzor
muy lineal que gusta a los
europeos”, señala la analista
Linsa Jones.
Lo mismo ocurre con la
gama Galia que alcanza
el 23 por ciento de las
ventas, pero la entrada
de variedades larga vida
sin sabor ha mermado la
confianza de los consumidores
hasta el punto
de que las ventas en 2010
cayeron un 14 por ciento
con respecto a 2009.
El descenso de ventas de
Galia y Honey Dew en
Reino Unido ha facilitado
la entrada del Cantaloup,
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Markets
El melón Galia pierde
interés entre los consumidores
británicos.
The Galia melon is losing
interest among the British
consumers.
que en 2010 incrementó
sus ventas en un tres por
ciento y un 11 por ciento
otro perfiles de melones,
en donde destacan las variedades
de piel de sapo,
según los datos de la cadena
Asda.
Existe una relación directa
“entre el incremento
del cantaloup y el descenso
del galia en el Reino
Unido”, señala la analista
L. Jones. El Cantaloup
tiene en el Reino Unido
una cota de mercado del
18 por ciento y un volumen
de negocio que alcanza
los 25 millones de
libras entre las cadenas.
El consumo de melón
desciende en el Reino
Unido por esta fase del
Galia y Honey Dew hacia
el Cantaloup. Los analistas
de Kantar Worldpanel
señalan el descenso en
un 3,6 por ciento, sobre
todo del melón de contraestación.
Alemania. “El Galia es
hoy un producto que ha
dejado de evolucionar”,
señala Ricardo Ortiz, director
de Rijk Zwaan. Una
encuesta realizada por la
firma Rijk Zwaan entre
consumidores alemanes
destaca como el sabor del
piel de sapo gusta a los
alemanes por delante de
otras variedades.
No obstante, recuerda
Ortiz, “el sector español
tiene que hacer un trabajo
de educación ya que el
melón verde es sinónimo
de melón no maduro”.
El Honey Dew sigue siendo
el melón preferido
por los alemanes con una
cota del 40 por ciento.
Los discounts lo acogen
muy bien en sus lineales
al ser el melón más económico
de toda la gama.
Tras el Honey Dew, se encuentra
el Galia, que alcanza
precios superiores.
Otros mercados donde el
Cantaloup se hace más
fuerte es Italia. Sólo el
Norte de Italia contempla
melón Galia y el piel de
sapo se empieza a introducir
en la zona Sur y en
Sicilia.
The Honey Dew and the Galia
are the varieties of melon
most sold in the United
Kingdom, but there are new
changes caused by the range
of Cantaloup and Piel de
sapo.
At the present day the Honey
Dew is 33 per cent of the
melon sales in Great Britain
due to the culture “to link the
yellow colour to the ripening
of the fruit and because this
melon has a constant sweetness
that likes to the European
consumers”, the analyst
Linsa Jones explains.
The same happens with the
of Galia that reaches 23 per
cent of the sales, but the introduction
of long life varieties
without flavour has decreased
the confidence of the
consumers to the extend of
the sales in 2010 decreased
14 per cent respecting to
2009.
The decrease of the sales of
Galia and Honey Dew in the
United Kingdom has made
easier the introduction of
the Cantaloup that in 2010
increased its sales three per
cent and other varieties 11
per cent standing out the Piel
de sapo according to the data
of the Asda chain.
There is a direct relation “between
the increase of the
Cantaloup and the decrease
of the Galia in the United
Kingdom”, the analyst L.
Jones explains. The Cantaloup
has a share of market
of 18 per cent in the United
Kingdom and a volume of
business that reaches 25
million pounds among the
chains.
The melon consumption
has decreased in the United
Kingdom because of this
stage of the Galia and the
Honey Dew towards the

The Galia and the
Honey Dew
decrease
in theEU
gerMany and the united kingdoM had
forgotten the gaLia and honey dew
MeLons in favor of the cantaLoup and
the pieL de sapo.
Cantaloup. The analysts of
Kantar Worldpanel affirm
that the decrease is 3.6 per
cent, mainly of the melon of
the South Hemisphere.
Germany. “At the present
day the Galia is a product
that has stopped evolving”,
Ricardo Ortiz, manager of
Rijk Zwaan, affirms. A survey
made by the Rijk Zwaan
company to the German consumers
German stands out
that the flavour of the Piel de
sapo is preferred opposite to
other varieties.
However, “the Spanish sector
must do a work of training
since the green melon is syn-
Markets
La línea Cantaloup gana presencia en Reino Unido e Italia.
The presence of the Cantaloup line is increasing in the United Kingdom
onymous of non ripe melon”
Ortiz assures.
The Honey Dew keeps on being
the melon preferred by
the Germans with a share
of 40 per cent. Discounts
welcome it very well in
their stands because it is the
cheapest melon of all the
ranges. The price of the Galia
and Italy.
melon is higher.
Other market where the Cantaloup
is becoming more
important is Italy. Only the
North of Italy has Galia melon
and the Piel de sapo begins
to be introduced in the
South zone and Sicily.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
15

16
El
‘direct sourcing’
hace más amigos
Las cadenas francesas y ahora Las
ingLesas apuestan por eL ‘direct sourcing’
y crean pLataforMas, despLazando
a Los category ManageMent.
Group Food Sourcing,
Zenalco, Global Pacific,…
son algunas de las
empresas creadas por las
cadenas de supermercados
para romper con los
intermediarios, mayoristas
o category management.
Los más perjudicados
son los category management,
una figura creada
y diseñada por los supermercados
para que le sirvieran
frutas y hortalizas
y qué ahora ven como los
supermercados le desplazan
del negocio y, en
algunos casos, con inversiones
millonarias.
Las cadenas francesas Carrefour
y Auchan fueron
las primeras en crear estas
estructuras directas.
Socomo es la plataforma
de Carrefour y Zenalco la
de Auchan.
Zenalco es la plataforma
que ofrece las frutas y
hortalizas de España para
Auchan y Simply Market
y durante 2010 comercializó
hacia Francia más
de 170.000 toneladas, de
los que 80.000 toneladas
fueron cítricos. No obs-
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Markets
tante, no todas las frutas
y hortalizas que entran
en Auchan pasan por Zenalco.
Socomo es el ejemplo
en Carrefour. Una plataforma
que movió más
de 200.000 toneladas de
frutas y hortalizas de España
a las tiendas del supermercado
francés.
El modelo inglés. Durante
muchos años, el ‘category
management’ ha
sido el modelo de gestión
entre la producción de
frutas y hortalizas y los
supermercados británicos.
Pero tras la crisis de
2008 y la entrada de los
discount Lidl y Aldi en
el Reino Unido, las cadenas
tradicionales –Tesco,
Asda o Sainsbury´s- se
pusieron nerviosas al ver
como los discounts ganaban
cota de mercado en
frutas y hortalizas.
La primera medida de las
cadenas británicas fue la
guerra de precios, pero
en este escenario los discount
tenían ventaja y
hoy en algunas categorías
alcanzan una cota
de mercado del ocho por
ciento, sobre todo, en gamas
‘commodity’ como
bananas.
Tesco ha puesto en marcha
Group Food Sourcing
con muchas dificultades,
ya que la cadena busca
productores que le puedan
suministrar en los
mercados lejanos como
los asiáticos. La cadena
ha llegado a prometer financiación
para productores
que estén dispuestos
a apostar por producir
en mercados lejanos.
Es la misma postura de
Sainsbury´s con Global
Pacific y Asda con International
Produce. Objetivo:
Reducir los costes
de la intermediación que
supone el category Management
y “cargar al proveedor
de la logística que
supone trabajar directamente
con las cadenas, ya
que no todos los supermercados
disponen de
instalaciones apropiadas
para realizar el servicio
correctamente”, señalan
diferentes mayoristas británicos.
the french
chains and now
the engLish
ones have bet
on the “direct
sourcing” and
have created
pLatforMs, Moving
apart the
category ManageMent.
Las cadenas francesas fueron las
primeras en crear plataformas propias
para frutas y hortalizas.
The French chains were the first in
creating own platforms for fruits and
vegetables.

“Direct sourcing”
makes more friends
Group Food Sourcing, Zenalco,
Global Pacific,… are
some of the companies created
by the chains of supermarkets
to split up with the
intermediaries, wholesalers
or category management.
The most damaged are the
category management that
were created and designed by
the supermarkets so to supply
it fruits and vegetables
and now the supermarkets
are taking them apart of the
business and, in some cases,
with millionaire investments.
The French chains like Carrefour
and Auchan were the
first in creating these direct
structures. Socomo is the
platform of Carrefour and
Zenalco the one of Auchan.
Zenalco is the platform that
offers the fruits and vegetables
of Spain for Auchan and
Simply Market and during
2010 commercialized more
than 170,000 tons to France,
of that 80,000 tons were
citrics. However, all the fruits
and vegetables that enter in
Auchan are through Zenalco.
Socomo is the example in
Carrefour. It is a platform
that commercialized more
than 200,000 tons of fruits
and vegetables from Spain to
the stores of the French supermarkets.
The English model. During
many years, the “category
management” has been the
model of management between
the production of the
British fruits and vegetables
and the supermarkets. But
after the crisis in 2008 and
the introduction of Lidl and
Aldi discounts in the United
Kingdom, the traditional
chains - Tesco, Asda or Sainsbury’s-
got nervous because
the discounts increased the
share of market of fruits and
vegetables.
The first step of the British
chains was the war of prices,
but in this situation the discounts
had advantage and
at present in some products
they reach a share of market
of eight per cent, mainly, in
the “commodity” range like
the bananas.
Tesco has started up the
Group Food Sourcing with
many difficulties, since the
Markets
chain looks for producers
that can supply it in the distant
markets like the Asian
one. The chain has promised
to finance the producers that
were ready to bet on producing
in distant markets.
The same situation is Sainsbury’s
with Global Pacific
and Asda with International
Produce. Objective: To decrease
the costs of the intermediation
of the category
Management and “to give
to the supplier the logistic
that means to work directly
with the chains, since all the
supermarkets do not have
suitable facilities to do the
service correctly”, different
British wholesalers affirm.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
17

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
18
Markets
El aumento
de precio
frena el consumo de
1.607.324
manzana
eL consuMo de
Manzana ha dis-
Minuido de for-
Ma generaLizada
en europa entre
2009/10. aLeMania
es una de Las
excepciones,
cuya deManda
auMentó casi un
2 por ciento.
Rusia
Russia
565.444
Alemania
Germany
en
UE
Por María Esperanza Losilla
fyh@fyh.es
452.160
La manzana es uno de los
productos más adquiridos
en la cesta de la compra europea,
no obstante, diversos
factores han influido en el
descenso del consumo de
esta fruta.
Alemania ha sido una de las
excepciones cuyo consumo
ha aumentado de 1.910 kilos
por cada 100 hogares en
2009 a los 1.948 kilos por
cada 100 hogares en 2010.
Existen destinos donde los
descensos de consumo han
sido muy importantes. Es el
caso de Polonia, donde el
consumo descendió un 38
por ciento entre 2009/10.
Igualmente, la ingesta de
manzana fresca en Rusia ha
sido una de las más bajas en
los últimos tres años.
El aumento del precio global
y la disminución de la producción
privada de manzana
en Rusia ha sido una de las
causas del descenso del consumo
en un 12 por ciento.
Francia, con una ingesta nacional
de manzana en fresco
de 800.000 toneladas, ha
Reino Unido
U.K.
295.901
Holanda
Netherlands
210.016
España
Spain
‘Top TEn’ prIncIpAlEs
ImporTADorEs EuropEos DE mAnzAnA (2010)
‘Top TEn’ mAIn EuropEAn ImporTErs of ApplE (2010)
(Toneladas/Tons). Fuente: Eurostat.
sido uno de los países donde
más se ha notado su descenso,
en torno al 11 por ciento,
unido a una subida del valor
en un dos por ciento.
República Checa ha pasado
de consumir 26,7 kilos per
cápita de manzana en 2009 a
22,5 kilos per cápita en 2010,
y con un gasto de 211 coronas
checas por persona.
La manzana es uno de los
productos más adquiridos
por parte de Suecia, ya que
supone el 14 por ciento de las
ventas entre la fruta fresca.
Sin embargo, entre 2009/10,
la venta de manzana en tiendas
de comestibles descendió
un 18 por ciento.
Otros factores. Los daños
del granizo en la cosecha de
manzana en Italia, unido a
un aumento de los precios,
ha provocado que el consumidor
italiano ingiera un
4% menos de manzana.
España ocupa el quinto puesto
europeo en la producción
de manzana. Sin embargo,
al igual que el resto de países
europeos, los españoles comen
menos manzana: 12,55
kilos per cápita en 2009 fren-
159.663
Francia
France
122.371
Bélgica
Belgium
82.731
Suecia
Sweden
te a 12,12 kilos per cápita en
2010.
Esta fruta es la variedad hortofrutícola
más consumida
por los holandeses con 21,6
kilos per cápita en 2010 frente
a los 22,3 kilos en 2009.
La campaña holandesa vino
marcada por un descenso de
la producción en 2010 en un
16,4 por ciento.
La pasada campaña fue dura
para la cosecha en Reino
Unido debido a factores climatológicos.
No obstante, el
mercado respondió ante esta
situación, ya que ha sido uno
de los países que menos ha
sufrido el descenso del consumo
de manzana, sólo un
0,14% entre 2009/10.
En 2010 se incrementó la
adquisición de fruta fresca
en Bélgica un dos por ciento,
a excepción de la manzana,
que sufrió una ligera
caída del 0,72 por ciento del
gasto en los hogares entre
2009/2010.
El consumo de fruta ha aumentado
en los últimos años
en Austria. Sin embargo, los
factores de producción y un
encarecimiento del producto
ha afectado al consumo de
manzana, que cayó de 29,4
kilos per cápita en 2009 a
28,7 kilos en 2010.
77.853
Rep. Checa
Czech Rep.
76.334
Dinamarca
Denmark

By María Esperanza Losilla
fyh@fyh.es
The apple is one of the products
with more presence in
the shopping basket in Europe,
however, some different
factors have influenced
on the decrease of the consumption
of this fruit.
Germany has been one of the
exceptions which consumption
has increased 1,910 kilos
by each 100 families in 2009
to 1,948 kilos in 2010.
There are destinations where
the decrease of the consumption
has been very important
like is the case of Poland
where the consumption decreased
38 per cent between
2009/10. Also, the fresh apple
consumption in Russia
has been one of the lowest in
the last three years.
The increase of the total
price and the decrease of the
private apple production in
Russia have been one of the
causes of the decrease of 12
per cent of the consumption.
France, with a consumption
of 800,000 tons, has been
one of the countries where
the decrease has been noticed
so much, around 11 per
cent, together with a decrease
of the value of two per cent.
Czech Republic has a consumption
of 26.7 kilos of
apple per capita in 2009 to
22.5 kilos per capita in 2010,
and with an expense of 211
Czech crowns by person.
The apple is one of the products
bought more by the Swe-
The increase of the
prices
apple
Markets
slows down the
EU
consumption in the
the appLe consuMption has decreased in generaL in
europe between 2009/10. gerMany is one of the exceptions,
which deMand increased aLMost 2 per cent.
den, since it means 14 per
cent of the sales of the fresh
fruit. Nevertheless, between
2009/10 the apple sale in the
greengrocers decreased 18
per cent.
Other factors. The damages
of the hail in the apple harvest
in Italy, together with an
increase of the prices, have
caused a decrease of the Italian
apple consumption of 4
per cent.
Spain is in the fifth place of
the European apple production.
Nevertheless, like the
rest of the European countries,
the Spaniards eats fewer
apples: 12.55 kilos per capita
in 2009 opposite to 12.12 kilos
per capita in 2010.
This fruit is the most consumed
by the Dutch with
21.6 kilos per capita in 2010
opposite to 22.3 kilos in
2009. The Dutch campaign
is characterized by a decrease
of 16.4 per cent of the production
in 2010.
Last campaign was hard for
the harvest in the United
Kingdom due to the climatic
conditions. However, the
market responded facing this
situation, since it has been
one of the countries with less
decrease of the apple consumption,
only 0.14 per cent
in the campaign 2009/10.
In 2010 the acquisition of
fresh fruit in Belgium increased
two per cent, with
the exception of the apple
with a little decrease of 0.72
per cent.
The fruit consumption has
increased in Austria in the
last years. Nevertheless, the
factors of production and the
increase of the product have
affected the apple consumption
that decreased from 29.4
kilos per capita in 2009 to
28.7 kilos in 2010.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
19

20
La fresa española
vuelve a posicionarse en
Francia
españa vueLve
a tener eL 70
por ciento de La
cota de Mercado
de La fresa de
iMportación en
francia, gracias
a La aparición
de nuevas variedades.Marruecos
bajó en 2010
hasta eL nueve
por ciento.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Markets
El olvido de la variedad Camarosa
por parte de los productores
españoles ha sido
clave para entender el incremento
de cota de mercado de
la fresa de España en el mercado
francés.
El lanzamiento de nuevas
variedades más sabrosas y de
mejor color como Sabrina,
ha supuesto un impulso de
la oferta española frente a la
marroquí, afectada por problemas
de conservación. Hoy
la cota de mercado de fresa
importada de España supera
el 70 por ciento frente al 65
por ciento de 2006, cuando
La fresa española vuelve a recuperar mercado internacional.
The Spanish strawberry recovers again the international market..
Marruecos ganaba mercados
por precocidad e inercia comercial.
Marruecos tocó fondo en
2010 cuando la cota de mercado
sólo alcanzó el nueve
por ciento de la fresa importada.
“Las cadenas buscamos
fresas que se conserven bien y
ofrezcan satisfacción al consumidor”,
señala Matthieu
Lovery, responsable de compras
de Monoprix.
Y en este escenario “España
ha mejorado considerablemente
con nuevas variedades
tanto en plantaciones tempranas
como tardías”, indican
los operadores de Saint
Charles International, punto
caliente del comercio de fresa
en Francia.
La superficie de fresa en Marruecos
ha descendido desde
el ejercicio 2008 y esto ha
provocado un descenso de
producción de las 215.000
toneladas en 2004 a las
120.000 toneladas en 2010.
Esto ha provocado un descenso
de las exportaciones y
una mayor presencia de fresa
para congelado y para el mercado
local.
No obstante, los datos de
2011 supusieron un incremento
de las exportaciones
de fresa de Marruecos superando
las 10.000 toneladas y
alcanzando una cota de mercado
del 12 por ciento.
Consumo. Se ha producido
una relación directa entre la
mayor cota de mercado de la
oferta española con nuevas
variedades y el incremento
del consumo y de las importaciones.
Los datos de Interfel
señalan que en el periodo
2006-2010 el consumo en
los hogares franceses se ha
incrementado en un cuatro
por ciento y hoy cada francés
consume una media de 2,6
kilos por persona y año, pagando
4,4 euros por kilogramo
en tienda.
En los últimos años, los
operadores de Saint Charles
International han realizado
una apuesta de promoción
por la fresa española, evitando
los ataques de los ‘lobbies’
franceses.
Francia cuenta con una producción
de casi 46.000 toneladas
de fresas, que permanece
estable desde hace cuatro
años pero en una superficie
de 2.900 hectáreas frente a
las 3.400 hectáreas de hace
cinco años.

117.432
75.169
19.866
The
spain
has again
70 per cent of
the share of
Market of the
strawberry
iMports
in france
thanks to the
introduction of
new varieties.
Morocco
decreased untiL
nine per cent in
2010.
108.925 106.927 107.026
TOTAL
69.485 71.444 71.526
ESPAÑA-SPAIN
14.800 15.200 14.300
MARRUECOS-MOROCCO
The forgetfulness of the
Camarosa variety on the part
of the Spanish producers has
been the key to understand
the increase of share of market
of the strawberry of Spain
in the French market.
The launching of new more
flavorful varieties and better
color like Sabrina, has meant
a boost of the Spanish supply
opposite toe Moroccan
one, affected by preservation
problems. Today the share of
market of the strawberry imported
of Spain surpasses 70
per cent opposite to 65 per
cent in 2006 when Morocco
gained markets because of
the early crops and commercial
inertia.
Morocco touched the bottom
in 2010 when the share of
market only reached nine per
cent of the imported strawberry.
“The chains looked for
strawberries that are well preserved
and give satisfaction
to the consumer”, Matthieu
Lovery, person in charge of
purchases of Monoprix, explains.
And in this situation “Spain
has improved considerably
with new varieties as much
in early crops as delayed
ones”, the operators of Saint
92.008
68.300
8.500
89.243
62.365
10.522
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
EvoluTIon ImporT sTrAwbErry In frAncE
(Tns). Source: Ctiffl.
Charles International, strong
point of the commerce of
strawberry in France, affirm.
The surface of strawberry
in Morocco has decreased
from the year 2008 and this
has caused a decrease of the
production of 215,000 tons
in 2004 to 120,000 tons in
2010. This has also caused a
decrease of the exports and a
more presence of strawberry
to freeze and for the local
market.
However, the data of 2011
meant an increase of the exports
of strawberry of Morocco
surpassing 10,000 tons
and reaching a share of market
of 12 per cent.
Consumption
There is a direct relation between
the higher share of
market of the Spanish sup-
Markets
Spanish strawberry
returns to set in France
ply with the new varieties
and the increase of the consumption
and the imports.
The data of Interfel show that
in the period 2006-2010 the
consumption in the French
families has increased four
per cent and today the consumption
is 2.6 kilos by person
and year, paying 4.4 Euros
by kilogram in a store.
In the last years, the operators
of Saint Charles International
have bet on the
promotion of the Spanish
strawberry, avoiding the attacks
of the French “lobbies”.
France has a production of
almost 46,000 tons of strawberries,
that has kept stable
for four years but in a surface
of 2,900 hectares opposite to
3,400 hectares of five years
ago.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
21

22
Cereza
Chile
La cereza que
LLega a europa
procedente deL
heMisferio sur
está en Manos
de Los exportadores
chiLenos,
rozando Las
6.000 toneLadas.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Markets
le hace un guiño
a la
UE
Por Daniel LafuenteTorregrosa
revista@fyh.es
Los operadores chilenos se
han posicionado como el
principal exportador de cerezas
en contraestación del
Hemisferio Sur con destino
a Europa y sus agricultores
tienen la oportunidad de ser
parte de este negocio.
Y es que, en el mercado europeo
las exportaciones de
cerezas chilenas llegaron a
5.832 toneladas, es decir, un
21,7 por ciento más que en
la temporada 2009-2010, en
la que se registraron 4.792
toneladas. En este mercado
el principal comprador es el
Reino Unido con 2.414 toneladas,
sigue la huella España
con 1.304 toneladas y Holanda
con 1.423 toneladas.
De hecho, es uno de los mercados
con mayor dinamismo
junto con el mercado
asiático, que, experimentó
un incremento del 86,9 por
ciento en relación a la temporada
2009-2010, pasando de
14.387 toneladas a 26.885 toneladas
en el periodo 2010-
2011.
La penetración de esta fruta
de hueso a Europa de países
fuera de la UE sólo es superado
por las expediciones
turcas, con destinos muy
marcados (plazas alemanas y
británicas, principalmente) y
serbias, aunque lógicamente
estos dos países no operan
las mismas fechas, ya que se
ubican en hemisferios diferentes.
Campaña. La evolución para
esta campaña se presenta positiva.
De hecho, existe los
productores de cerezas chilenos
la certeza que para este
año las exportaciones se van
incrementar notablemente,
gracias a la calidad de fruta,
los buenos rendimientos, el
calibre y, sobre todo, el clima
benigno, factores primordiales
para esta fruta de hueso.
Con esta realidad,”Chile,
aparentemente, podría llegar
hasta las 14 millones de cajas,
en circunstancias que el
máximo que hemos alcanzado
es de 11,5 millones de cajas”,
señaló Antonio Walker,
presidente de la Federación
de Productores de Fruta de
Chile (Fedefruta) y produc-
tor de cerezas.
Son tres los destinos que explican
este avance: el Lejano
Oriente, que incremento un
46 por ciento sus envíos, si se
compara con la campaña previa,
sumando 34.624 toneladas.
A él se suman los envíos
hacia Latinoamérica (19,1
por ciento) y Medio (17,4 por
ciento). Europa seguirá siendo
un mercado de referencia
y se prevé unas cifras en alza
con respecto al ejercicio precedente
La variedad Bing seguirá
siendo la cereza más exportada,
ya que es la que tiene mejor
comportamiento en los
viajes de largo recorrido.

the suppLy of
cherries froM
the southern
heMisphere
to europe, approaching
6,000
tons, are in the
hands of chiLean
exporters.
4.200
2007/08
By Daniel LafuenteTorregrosa
revista@fyh.es
Chilean companies have become
the principal exporters
of off-season cherries from
the southern hemisphere to
Europe and there is a good
chance for the country’s
growers to take part in the
business.
All in all, the volumes of
Chilean cherries exported
to the European market rose
to 5,832 tons which is 21,7
per cent above the 4,792
tons registered for the 2009-
2010 season. Within Europe,
2,414 tons make the UK the
first destination, followed
by Spain with 1,304 tons
and the Netherlands (1.423
tons).
Europe is in fact one of the
most dynamic places, similar
to the Asian market where
the year-on-year increase rate
reached even 86,9 per cent:
from 14,387 tons in 2009-
2010 up to 26,885 tons the
following season.
As non-EU country of origin
of cherries sold on the
European market, Chile is
outranked only by Turkish
exports whose principal destinations
are Germany and
the UK, in the first place, and
cherries from Serbia; naturally,
as the periods of activity
of these last two origins
do not coincide with Chile’s
exports, they do not compete
directly with each other on
the market.
The season. For the present
campaign, prospects are
good. Chilean cherry grow-
Markets
Cherries
EU The
will get another big bite of the
5.990
2008/09
4.792
2009/10
ExporT of chErry from chIlE To Eu.
(Tons). Source: Asoex.
Chilean cherry
5.832
2010/11
ers are sure there will be an
important increase in exports
due to high quality and crop
yields, calibre and, above all,
favourable weather, which all
are key factors in this stone
fruit crop.
Given these circumstances,’it
looks like Chile could approach
14 million boxes; to
date, our record is 11.5 million
boxes’, says Mr. Antonio
Walker, President of the
Chilean Federation of Fruit
Growers (Fedefruta), a cherry
grower himself.
Three destinations lie at the
heart of the progress: the Far
East, with a year-on-year increase
of 46 per cent, will receive
34,624 tons. Add to this
the exports to other Latin
American countries (19.1%)
and the Middle East (17.4%).
Europe, too, will continue to
be a reference market; predictions
say last year’s results
will be surpassed.
As to varieties, Bing, a cherry
that tolerates long distance
transport better than any
other, will be dominant in
exports.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
23

La crisis del
E. Coli
deja un rastro de
pérdidas
eL goLpe deL e. coLi eMpezará a dejar eMpresas
europeas de Las frutas y hortaLizas
con pérdidas. eL descenso deL
consuMo es una reaLidad.
Por Rafael Losilla
rlosilla@fyh.es
Las consecuencias de
las declaraciones de la
senadora de la ciudad
de Hamburgo, Cornelia
Prüfer-Storcks, culpando
al pepino como responsable
de la presencia de
la bacteria E. coli empezarán
a conocerse durante
el primer trimestre de
2012.
Las primeras consecuencias
fueron las del descenso
del consumo de
las frutas y hortalizas a
partir de junio, aunque
algunos profesionales
como Philip Fischer, gerente
de la alemana Hars
& Hagebauer, niegan este
escenario y señalan que
“un verano poco cálido
en Alemania ha ayudado
a que las ventas caigan”.
La segunda cooperativa
de hortalizas de Holanda
ZON ha anunciado que
cierra el ejercicio 2011
con unas pérdidas de
ocho millones de euros
y un descenso de facturación
hasta los 326 millones
de euros. La firma
señala que la crisis del
E. Coli “ha tenido incidencia
en la venta de los
productos y la rentabilidad
de los productores ha
estado sometida a mucha
presión”.
24 No será el único caso y
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Markets
se esperan los resultados
del resto de firmas
holandesas para conocer
resultados. La crisis del E.
Coli y el descenso de las
ventas en frutas y hortalizas
coincide con algunos
movimientos estratégicos
de calado como la nueva
estrategia de Univeg de
dejar apartadas sus inversiones
en el Hemisferio
Sur o la última operación
de Total Produce con
Frankort&Koning, empresa
muy ligada al canal
descuento.
Ya en la campaña pasada,
algunas empresas
holandesas como Best
Fresh Group o Hispafruit
redujeron sus beneficios
de manera considerable,
según la consultora D&B,
y habrá que esperar los resultados
de 2011.
Reino Unido y Francia.
Los números del Reino
Unido vuelven a complicarse
según la consultora
Plimsoll. El 28 por ciento
de los mayoristas en el
Reino Unido cierran en
pérdidas en 2011 y un 17
por ciento ya contempla
pérdidas por segundo
año consecutivo.
El escenario francés no es
muy diferente. El 40 por
ciento de las empresas
hortofrutícolas francesas
cerrarán sin beneficios y
un 15% con un escenario
muy preocupante por
pérdidas cuantiosas.
Sólo en la plataforma de
Saint Charles International,
desde donde se comercializa
el 25 por ciento
de las importaciones
hortofrutícolas francesas,
sólo el 14 por ciento de
las 20 primeras firmas
cerraron el ejercicio 2010
con más facturación que
en 2009, con una situación
para 2011 similar,
ya que durante el mes
de junio las empresas de
Perpignan dejaron de facturar
casi 90 millones de
euros como consecuencia
del impacto del E. Coli.
the daMage of
e. coLi begins
to cause that
european coMpanies
of fruits
and vegetabLes
Make Losses. the
decrease of the
consuMption is
a reaLity.
By Rafael Losilla
rlosilla@fyh.es
The consequences of the
statements of the senator of
the city of Hamburg, Cornelia
Prüfer-Storcks, blaming
on the cucumber as the
responsible of the E. coli
bacterium, will be known
during the first quarterly of
2012.
The first consequences were
the decrease of the consumption
of fruits and vegetables
from June, although some
professionals like Philip Fischer,
manager of the German
Hars & Hagebauer, deny this
situation and affirm that “a
little warm summer in Germany
has helped to the sales
to fall”.
The second cooperative of
vegetables of Holland ZON
has announced that finished
the year 2011 with losses of
eight million Euros and a decrease
of invoicing until 326
million Euros. The company
explained that the crisis of
the E. Coli “has affected the
sale of products and the profitability
of the producers has
been under much pressure”.
Senator Cornelia
Prüfer, person in
charge of the consequences
of the
crisis of the E. Coli,
still does not turn
in her resignation.
La senadora
Cornelia Prüfer,
responsable de las
consecuencias de
la crisis del E. Coli,
sigue sin presentar
su dimisión.

Markets
E. Coli
The crisis of the
makes a result of losses
It will not be the unique case
and the results of the rest of
the Dutch companies are expected
to know the results.
The crisis of the E. Coli and
the decrease of the sales of
fruits and vegetables have
coincided with some strategies
like the new strategy
of Univeg to take apart its
investments in the South
Hemisphere or the last operation
of Total Produce with
Frankort&Koning, a company
linked to the discount
channel.
In the last campaign, the
profits of some Dutch companies
like Best Fresh Group
or Hispafruit decreased so
much according to the D&B
consultant but it is necessary
to wait for the 2011 results.
The United Kingdom and
France. The figures of the
United Kingdom return to be
complicated according to the
Plimsoll consultant. 28 per
cent of the wholesalers in the
United Kingdom ended 2011
with losses and 17 per cent
has already losses for the second
consecutive year.
The French situation is not
very different. 40 per cent
of the French fruit and vegetable
companies will finish
the campaign without profits
and 15 per cent in a worrisome
situation because so
much losses.
In the platform of Saint
Charles International, from
where 25% of the French
fruit and vegetable imports is
commercialized, only 14 per
The consumption of fruits and vegetables of the German consumers decreased 16
points in the first weeks after the damage of the E. Coli.
El consumo de frutas y hortalizas entre los alemanes llegó a caer 16 puntos en las
primeras semanas tras el impacto del E. Coli.
cent of the 20 first companies
finished the campaign 2010
with more invoicing than in
2009, with a situation similar
in 2011 similar, since during
the month of June the companies
of Perpignan stopped
invoicing almost 90 million
Euros as a result of the impact
of the E. Coli.
Hall 18
A-02f
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
25

26
El supermercado
ecológico
alemán busca reinventarse
Las cadenas
aLeManas especiaLizadas
en productos
ecoLógicos controLan
eL 50 por
ciento deL negocio.
aLnatura,
denn´s y basic
ag son Los tres
grupos Más iMportantes.
138.000
Patatas
Potatoes
97.000
Zanahorias
Carrots
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Markets
En 2011, la facturación del
comercio minorista especializado
en Alemania superó
por primera vez los 2.000
millones de euros. Más del
90 por ciento correspondieron
a productos de la alimentación:
un nueve por ciento
más que el año anterior y un
17 por ciento por encima de
las cifras de 2009.
Ya no son las mismas altísimas
tasas de crecimiento
que se vieron hasta 2007.
Los últimos años han visto
importantes novedades en el
comercio minorista especializado
de productos ecológicos.
El objetivo de los supermercados
era el de compensar
las dos desventajas que los
consumidores veían en el
comercio especializado en
comparación con las cadenas
convencionales: surtidos limitados
y diferencias de precio
demasiado grandes.
Los supermercados consiguieron
ese objetivo hasta
cierto punto; sin embargo, ya
72.000
Bananas
Bananas
Por Uwe Schwießelmann
uwe@fyh.es
52.000
Manzanas
Apples
fruTAs y horTAlIzAs EcológIcAs
más consumIDAs En AlEmAnIA (2010)
DEmAnD orgAnIc fruIT & vEgETAblE In gErmAny (2010)
(Expresado en toneladas). Fuente: AMI.
22.000
Tomates
Tomatoes
hay analistas que dicen que
lo que hemos visto en los últimos
años ha sido el apogeo
de esas cadenas y que hacen
falta nuevas estrategias para
seguir creciendo.
Cadenas. En Alemania, hoy
existen algo menos de 2.500
establecimientos minoristas
especializados con un surtido
completo de alimentos
ecológicos. La gran mayoría
(alrededor del 70 por ciento)
siguen siendo pequeñas tiendas
independientes, pero el
porcentaje de los supermercados
sigue creciendo y está
en un 18 por ciento. (El resto
corresponde a los llamados
‘farm shops’, puntos de venta
de empresas de producción
ecológica que completan su
surtido de artículos procedentes
de producción propia
por compras externas).
Estos supermercados especializados
controlan más del
50 por ciento de la superficie
total de puntos de venta
de productos ecológicos en
Alemania. Por lo tanto, comparado
con la distribución
convencional, el grado de
concentración sigue siendo
bajo y hay muchas cadenas
de ecológicos con un número
de mercados muy limitado y
con carácter de minorista re-
13.000
Cebollas
Onions
9.100
Pepinos
Cucumbers
gional.
Sin embargo, también hay
operadores que cubren o intentan
cubrir todo el territorio
nacional. Entre éstos,
destaca Alnatura que abrió
en 1987 lo que era probablemente
el primer supermercado
ecológico en Alemania.
Alnatura, marca registrada
dos años antes para productos
ecológicos, no sólo está
presente en unos 1.000 del
total de 6.000 artículos del
surtido de los casi 70 supermercados
‘Alnatura’ que actualmente
operan, sino que
encontramos estos productos
en 2.900 establecimientos
minoristas repartidos por
toda Alemania y países vecinos
gracias a su inclusión
en los surtidos de cadenas de
supermercados e hipermercados
convencionales como
Tegut, ‘HIT’ (del Grupo Dohle)
o Globus.
Denn´s Bimarkt. Si Alnatura
fue la primera, Denn’s Biomarkt
es probablemente la
más dinámica de las cadenas
alemanas de supermercados
ecológicos y la que más peso
tiene en lo que es el comercio
de frutas y hortalizas ecológicas.
Surgió a mitades de los 90
como filial del mayorista
especializado en productos
ecológicos Denree GmbH,
6.500
Pimiento
Peppers
3.380
Fresa
Strawberry

actualmente uno de los operadores
más grandes del sector
europeo.
Existen unos 90 supermercados
Denn’s Biomarkt en Alemania
y Austria, de los que
25 son gestionados por minoristas
independientes. En
2010, estos supermercados
facturaron cerca de 70 millones
de euros y el objetivo de
la cadena es mantener un ritmo
de crecimiento de un 10
por ciento anual.
Su ventaja en un mercado
que ve disminuyendo el margen
de crecimiento aparentemente
ilimitado hasta hacía
pocos años es el apoyo que
recibe de la empresa matriz
Denree GmbH que suministra
más de 10.000 artículos,
de los que 250 son frutas y
hortalizas a 1.300 establecimientos
minoristas especializados
en Alemania y países
limítrofes. La facturación
anual del grupo supera claramente
los 400 millones de
euros de los que una cuarta
parte corresponde al comercio
de frutas y hortalizas
frescas.
Basic AG. La Basic AG, el tercero
del triunvirato de las cadenas
ecológicas en Alemania,
es también la empresa
que más ha sentido las consecuencias
de prácticas que
la clientela fija de minoristas
ecológicos no acepta.
La venta de parte de su negocio
al Grupo Schwarz –propietario
de Lidl- le provocó
Markets
problemas y el boicot de la
clientela. Más tarde varios
proveedores rescindieron sus
contratos con Basic y los consumidores
boicotearon los
productos y a las tiendas Basic,
lo que llevó a cancelar la
transacción con Schawrz tras
cuatro meses.
Basic ha ido recuperando
el pulso y su facturación de
2010 alcanzó los 100 millones
de euros y las previsiones
de 2011 es tener un crecimiento
del 10 por ciento.
Hall 18
B-01c
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
27

28
German organic
supermarket chains
searching for ways
to reinvent themselves
gerMan organic
superMarket
chains reach
50% Market of
the business. aLnatura,
denn´s
and basic ag are
the chains More
iMportant.
90
83
Denn´s Bio
Vitalia
Alnatura
Bio Company
Basic AG
numbEr ouTlETs orgAnIc supErmArkETs In gErmAny (2011)
númEro DE TIEnDAs por supErmErcADos EcológIcos En AlEmAnIA (2011)
Fuente/Source: Revista F&H.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Markets
By Uwe Schwießelmann
uwe@fyh.es
In 2011, for the first time in
its 40 years of history the
German specialized retail
trade of organic products
passed the 2 billion Euros
mark: € 2,100,000,000 net.
Food products account for
more than 90% of these
sales. The year-over-year increase
is of about 9%, and
17% compared to 2009.
Even though these are
no longer the vertiginous
growth rates this sector of the
trade used to present before
2007, over the last years we
have seen important novelties,
among them the evolution
in the field of the organized
retail of organics.
We refer to the chains of
organic supermarkets. The
initial idea behind the introduction
of the supermarket
concept into a branch that
has been and still is dominated
by small specialist
shops was to make up for the
disadvantages consumers felt
these little shops had com-
67
25
pared to the conventional
chains’ supermarkets: a very
limited assortment and too
high prices.
Though the organic supermarkets
achieved their goal
to a certain extent, there are
experts who say that what we
have been observing over the
last years has actually been
these chains’ apogee and that
now new strategies will be
needed in order to continue
growing; for instance, they
propose cooperative models
like the one the six supermarkets
of Berlin-based “LPG”
chain rely on.
2,500 organic supermarkets.
At present, in Germany there
are little less than 2,500 retail
stores with a full-range
organic food assortment. A
vast majority of these stores
(about 70%) still are small
shops run by independent retailers,
though the supermarkets’
proportion is increasing:
around 18 per cent. (The
rest is accounted for by farm
shops, points of sale at organic
farms or the like, where the
assortment of home-grown
or home-made products is
completed by externally purchased
organics.) But as to
the total sales area (in square
23
19
ebl
metres) of all organic retail
stores in Germany, these supermarkets
already account
for slightly over 50%.
The degree of concentration,
compared to the conventional
retail trade, is still
low, though, and there are
many small organics chains
with a very small number of
markets whose aspiration do
not go beyond regional retail.
However, there are some
traders who cover or at least
aim to cover the whole country.
Among them, ‘Alnatura’
stands out. As early as 1987,
the company opened what
probably was Germany’s first
organic supermarket.
Alnatura. ‘Alnatura’ had been
registered as a brand name
for organic products two
years previously and today
is not only on about 1,000
articles of the 6,000-articles
assortment of the approximately
70 ‘Alnatura’ supermarkets
but can be found in
no less than 2,900 stores all
over Germany and neighbouring
countries thanks to
the introduction of ‘Alnatura’-branded
products into
several supermarket and
hypermarket chains, for example
tegut, ‘HIT’ (of Dohle
Group) or ‘Globus’.
While ‘Alnatura’ may have
16
Super Bio Markt

een the first of its kind,
‘Denn’s Biomarkt’ is probably
the most dynamic of all
German chains of organic
supermarkets; with regard to
the fruit trade, it is no doubt
the segment’s heavyweight.
It was founded as a subsidiary
by Denree GmbH, a food
wholesaler specialized in organic
products and today one
of the biggest companies in
the European organic trade,
in the mid-1990s. There are
about 90 Denn’s Biomarkt
supermarkets in Germany
and Austria, between 20 and
30 of which are run by independent
retailers. In 2010,
these supermarkets’ total
turnover reached close to 70
millions of Euros and the
chain’s goal is to maintain the
growth rate of about 10 per
cent per year. As the margin
for further growth, seemingly
unlimited until just a few
years ago, is indeed shrinking,
the competitive edge of
‘Denn’s Biomarkt’ is surely
the support provided by a
parent company like Denree
GmbH who supplies more
than 10,000 articles (among
them, 250 fresh fruits and
vegetables) to 1,300 specialized
retail stores in Germany
and neighbouring countries;
the total turnover of the
Group is considerably higher
than 400 millions, and about
a quarter of this amount corresponds
to its fruit trade activities.
Basic AG. Basic AG, the third
member of the triumvirate
that heads the market segment
of the organic supermarkets
chains in Germany,
is the one who made the
most painful experience of
being punished for business
practices that the sector’s regular
patronage will not tolerate.
Driven by their eagerness
for rapid growth, they accepted
the Schwarz Group (Lidl)
as a minority stakeholder
in 2007. In consequence,
several suppliers canceled
their contracts with Basic
while consumers boycotted
their markets. Basic reacted
promptly and after less than
four months, the Schwarz
involvement was called off;
anyway, much of the damage
was done and Basic went
through two or three really
complicated years. Not only
did the chain stop to grow
but suffered important financial
losses and saw themselves
forced to close several
markets. Today, the company
is back in the black and the
2010 turnover climbed once
more up to 100 million Euro;
for 2011, the targeted turnover
was a 10% plus.
Markets
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
29

30
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Leaf
Primaflor
Leads the supply
of lettuce in Spain
Primaflor finished the campaign
2010-2011 being the
company with the highest
volume of commercialized
lettuces. The amount was 150
million lettuces in 4,000 hectares
of own production in
the Spanish south- east.
The iceberg range was the
most representative for the
company and the one that
has made easier that 70 per
cent of the exports went to
the channel of the supermarkets.
The strategy of Primaflor
in fresh lettuce is the
diversification of the custom-
ers so the risk is also much
diversified.
The United Kingdom and
Germany are the markets of
reference for this company
that has one of the widest
range of leaf products like the
batavia red, the little-gem,
the spinachs, Chinese celery
or lollo rosso.
The leaf products are 75 per
cent of the invoicing of the
company that reached 125
million Euros in 2010, 13 per
cent more than in 2009.
Fresh-cut. One of strong
points that the company is
developing to create value is
the fresh-cut. The company
has a specific platform for the
range of the fresh-cut products
and “we control all the
raw material from our 4,000
hectares of own production”,
Jordi Estrada, deputy commercial
manager of Primaflor
in Spain.
The line of the fresh-cut
grows in Spain and “our
company has launched new
references of mixtures, for
the Horeca channel or sauce
reference”, Estrada explains.
Primaflor has 27 varieties for the fresh-cut with the Primaflor brand.
The fresh-cut is 24 per cent of the invoicing of Primaflor.
A total of 27 varieties for
soft shoots, for soups, fried
vegetables and vegetables for
microwaves.
The fresh-cut is focused on
the markets of Spain and
Portugal, where the chain is
developing its work like the
Primaflor brand. This Andalusian
company that has surface
in Almería, Granada and
Murcia, works in extending
its share of market between
the Spanish and Portuguese
chains, where it was introduced
two years ago.

Hall
11.2
A-05
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
31

32
More than
300,000 tons
of lettuce
The companies associated to
Proexport (Murcia) commercialized
in the previous campaign
more than 300,000
tons, which means a commercialization
record, although
at low prices because
of the excess of supply.
Of these 300,000 tons,
248,000 tons are sent to the
export, where Murcia is the
unique producer from November
until April. From the
beginning of April the first
supplies of France, Italy and
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Leaf
Portugal enter.
23 companies associated to
Proexport exported lettuce
during the campaign 2010-
2011, standing out Urcisol
with 30,000 tons of iceberg
lettuce, and Primaflor, Fruca
Marketing or Gs Spain.
Germany has become the
most important international
destination of the companies
of Proexport with
almost 68,000 tons. The decrease
of the prices of this
leaf product has favored that
The companies of Proexport are the european reference of iceberg lettuce.
hard discounts has extended
their purchases in the companies
of the south-east of
Spain.
The United Kingdom imported
57,000 tons of lettuce,
which meant an increase of
19 per cent respecting to the
previous campaign. The reality
is that the purchases of
Spanish lettuce of all the destinations
increased and the
companies of Proexport were
not an exception.
The most active market be-
tween the important ones
was Denmark which operations
with the companies
of lettuce of Proexport increased
118 per cent reaching
7,400 tons.
Austria and Switzerland were
the unique markets which
purchases of lettuce of the
companies of Proexport decreased.
The commercial
operations of Switzerland
decreased nine per cent and
Austria seven per cent.

Looking for a new
line of products
the speciaLization
is a strategy with
not aLways good
resuLts. the coMpanies
of Leaf in
spain, Located between
aLMerÍa and
Murcia, are not
Living the best Mo-
Ment and have bet
on the product
diversification.
Agrupapulpí is one of
these companies. Its strong
product is the lettuce with
almost 40,000 tons with
special importance of the
iceberg lettuce, but in the
last years it has looked for
other lines of product.
Today Agrupapulpí commercializes
more than
70,000 tons of fruits and
vegetables, where the watermelon
has become more
important. This company
of Almería has produced
24,000 tons of watermelon
of different varieties mainly
Agrupapulpí has reached 40,000 tons of leaf products.
for the Spanish market.
It is not the only product
where Agrupapulpí has
turned upside down. It has
also done it with melon,
where it has reached 3,000
tons between the Galia and
yellow varieties.
The last incorporations are
broccoli and celery. The
company is having good
campaign of broccoli with
some operations “about 10-
12 trucks a week during the
campaign”, Rodrigo Soler,
commercial manager of the
company, explains.
Leaf
Agrupapulpí is one of the
companies that are active
during the 12 months with
leaf products “to keep on
with the activity and programs
with the chains”,
Soler affirms.
This company is specialized
in the fresh-cut packs of
leaf products for the United
Kingdom, France, Holland,
Austria and the Nordic
markets. It is also one of
the suppliers of the chain
of restaurants Mc Donalds,
among other companies of
the Horeca channel.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
33

34
Feeding close
to 45,000 tons
to the markets
Almería is courgette territory.
Production figures
are on the increase and the
courgette growing area has
already passed the mark of
5,000 hectares where close
to 275,000 tons are produced.
Figures show an increase
in the value of courgette
of twelve per cent and
of 14,2% in the size of the
growing area as compared
to the last three years’ average.
Courgette is without
a doubt one of the fastest
growing crops in the Almería
region.
Equally true is the increase
in growing area and business
volumes of Frutas
Escobi. This company’s
present production figures
are close to 45,000 tons.
Within Frutas Escobi’s
wide range of different
products, courgettes and
peppers stand out though
there are also eggplants
and tomatoes for those clients
who demand it.
The company’s orientation
is clearly towards exports
and its products can be
found on a wide variety of
markets with France, the
UK, the Netherlands, Germany,
and Switzerland
carrying more weight than
other destinations.
That Frutas Escobi is on
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Courgette
Gabriel Escobar, Managing Director
at Frutas Escobi.
the growth track becomes
apparent taking a look
at the investment made
three seasons ago which
was when the company expanded
its refrigerating facilities;
there are now three
cold-storing chambers
available. ‘This is how we
guarantee that the service
we offer to our clients is
really complete and excellent.’,
says Gabriel Escobar,
Managing Director at Frutas
Escobi.
Lines with added
value markets
To look for value markets
at this moment is complicated
since the price leads
part of the trade relations
between the origin and the
destination in the majority
of the products. There
are companies like Lomanoryas
that keep their
“target” in the value customers.
The commercial strategy of
Lomanoryas is to approach
to customers and added
value markets and to avoid
the customers who look
for prices and “commodities”.
The company, established
in 2002, was born to
favour the development of
the lines of quality to the
British market, and the immediate
goal “was to have
all the possible certificates
of quality, looking for the
quality markets”, Rogelio
Villanueva, commercial
manager of the company,
assures.
Lomanoryas keeps this
commitment and has extended
its commercial
management in the value
markets like Switzerland,
France, Nordic markets
and even the United Kingdom.
The company is developing
lines with very specific
chains and specialized
greengrocers of France that
“demand a quality well
presented and packaged
product that our company
can do because of the specialization
on the courgette”,
from Lomanoryas
explain.
The company has a supply
of 18,000 tons of which 85
per cent is courgette. “This
it is our best product and
the one that needs more
dedication because of being
a very sensible product
from the point of view of
the logistic and quality”,
Villanueva affirms.
Besides the courgette, Lomanoryas
has lines of cucumber
-five per cent-, tomato
-10%- and marrow,
to satisfy the demand of
the British chains.

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
35

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
36
Courgette
The courgette,
product
of reference
Almería is the producer of
courgette in Europe with
275,000 tons and more
than 5,100 hectares and
complemented with part
of the supply of Morocco
that this year has decreased
to 2,000 hectares.
The zone of Las Norias in
El Ejido (Almería) has the
biggest surface of courgette.
Hortofrutícola Las
Norias is one of the five
first European producers
of this so special product.
“In the last years, all
the companies of Almería
have increased their production
of courgettes and
small companies have
emerged looking at Holland
and have caused the
prices dropped”, Miguel
Angel Rubio, commercial
manager of Hortofrutícola
Las Norias, explains.
The courgette is the most
important product of
Hortofrutícola Las Norias
with a supply of 33,000
tons and the United Kingdom
as the most important
destination. The company
is working directly
with British supermarkets.
This company is developing
different kinds of
courgettes, being the dark
green the most important
one, but also specialties
like the yellow courgettes
for the Swiss chain Coop
from October to March.
Besides the United Kingdom,
it is also working for
the French market with
different operators specialized
in French supermarkets.
Miguel Angel Rubio is the commercial manager of Hortofrutícola Las Norias.
The supply of courgette of Mayes Export has increased.
Its potential of
courgette has
increased
Mayes Export, a company
of Almería, has increased
its potential of courgette
thanks to an increase of
the supply that will allow
to have more product
in the first months of the
campaign.
This company is specialized
in the segment of the
courgette and its supply
has reached 14,000 tons
with Andalusia like the
first supplier. With this increase
the company could
reach 20,000 tons and to
complement better the future
commitments.
Mayes Export is specialized
in the commerce with
the French market, where
it has agreements with several
French chains of supermarkets.
France means
40 per cent of the operations
of Mayes Export.
The British market is the
second one of the markets
of reference “because the
continuous consumption
of courgette, although
in the last years the pressure
on the prices has increased”,
Juan Antonio
Tomás Martos, commercial
manager of Mayes Export,
explains.
35 per cent of its operations
of the company is sent
to the United Kingdom.
The third most important
market is Spain with 15
per cent of the operations,
thanks to operations with
chains of supermarkets.
The company has
GlobalG.A.P certificates
and BRC “that proves the
experience and quality of
the processes in an especially
delicate product like
the courgette is”, Tomás
Martos affirms.

The cherry tomato
has became
strong in Morocco
Ricardo Menoyo,
manager of Agroatlas Europa.
Morocco has reinforced
its bet on the cherry tomato
in all the companies.
Agroatlas Europa and Agafay
du Souss have consolidated
their efforts and investments
in this product.
At present they have 100
hectares of cherry tomato
cherry of 130 productive
hectares that this enterprise
group has.
The company has guided
its commercial objectives
towards Germany,
the United Kingdom and
Spain, having looked for
relations with the European
supermarkets.
The supply of cherry tomato
of Agroatlas Europa is
7,000 tons sent both to the
United Kingdom and Germany
destinations. The
United Kingdom is one of
Khalid Faouzi,
director of Agafay du Souss.
the natural markets of the
cherry tomato of Morocco.
The company has decided
to work the cherry tomato
campaign from September
to June and to stop its
activity in the months of
summer, since “the profitability
decrease because
of the presence of the
European supply in the
market”, Ricardo Menoyo,
manager of Agroatlas Europa
explains.
Besides cherry tomato, the
company Agroaltas Europa
is working as much
green bean of Morocco in
the months of winter as
of Spain in the months of
summer. The company is
one of the green bean important
suppliers of one
important Spanish chain.
Spain is losing surface of
tomatoes according to the
data of the Ministry of
Agriculture. Murcia is the
most damaged region with
3,100 hectares at present
opposite to 5,000 hectares
five years ago.
Almería and Granada are
the zones where this line
of product has been developed
most and ParqueNat
is the company which
surface of tomato has increased
most during the
present campaign.
The surface of this company
of Almería has increased
17 per cent thanks
to “a campaign of local
promotion looking for new
partners suppliers”, José
Mariano López, manager
assitant of ParqueNat, explains.
The activity of this company
is focused in the
specialization for several
years. This specialization
has also arrived at the tomato,
since they only produce
and commercialize
loose tomato and truss
Tomato
The company of
tomatoes that
grew most in Spain
tomato 50 per cent. “We
have produced tomato of
high quality, since we are
close to the Natural Park
Cabo de Gata and we are
specialized in two kinds of
tomato with very competitive
prices”, López affirms.
The development of the
company has been controlled
for several years
and at present they surpass
20,000 tons opposite to
12,000 tons five years ago.
This development has
meant a new investment
of one million Euros in
machinery for the manufacturing
to improve the
results. The supply of this
company is concentrated
from December to May
and Germany and Spain
are the reference markets.
The company has extended
its channels and increased
its operations with Poland,
Sweden and Switzerland.
ParqueNat and Monsul are
the reference brands of a
company that “will keep
on growing in the next
years in tomato”.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
37

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
38
Tomato
Murcia se deja
hectáreas de tomate
por el camino
eL negocio deL toMate en Murcia no pasa por
sus Mejores MoMentos. deMasiadas presiones
aL sector escenificadas en eL cLiMa, agua y virus,
aMén de La fuerte coMpetencia que ejercen
desde Los principaLes paÍses productores, están
condicionando una dináMica a La baja en sus
núMeros.
Por Daniel LafuenteTorregrosa
revista@fyh.es
La Región de Murcia contempla
como sus cimientos
de tomate se tambalean.
De hecho, algunas
empresas en sus estimaciones
valoran descensos
superficiales y otras de
referencia histórica las
que han finalizado su actividad.
Murcia contemplaba a
mediados de la década
una superficie de tomate
superior a las 4.500 hectáreas,
con unos caudales
productivos superior a las
460.000 toneladas. En la
actualidad, la superficie
ronda las 3.260 hectáreas
que arrojan una puesta
en escena de 341.700 toneladas.
Estas variaciones tan
significativas se deben a
problemas víricos y climatológicos
que han determinado
la evolución y
viabilidad del cultivo, y a
la presión de la construcción
sobre las zonas costeras.
No obstante, el empuje
de este último factor
ha disminuido porque la
crisis económica también
ha pasado factura al sector
del ladrillo.
Sin embargo, el hecho es
que las inversiones en infraestructura
productiva
y comercial han sido relativamente
nulas, desembocando
en una pérdida
de competitividad, ante
la fuerza de la oferta del
tomate almeriense y marroquí.
El ejemplo más palpable
es el de la campaña
2008/09 donde la superficie
de tomate en
Murcia se cifró en 4.026
hectáreas y quedó fijada
en 392.200 toneladas.
Un año después la caída
fue equitativa tanto en el
comercio internacional
como en el mercado español,
donde Murcia contempla
empresas de referencia
al volcar su trabajo
en variedades en verde y
sabor.
Otro factor importante
son los precios de liquidación,
y éstos en los últimos
dos ejercicios tampoco
han acompañado.
Destinos. Las cifras de
exportación de tomate
murciano pierden fuelle
3.924 3.824
2006
2007
con el paso del tiempo.
De hecho, el atractivo del
dinero de la construcción
en las zonas de costa de
Aguilas y Mazarrón ha
sido muy difícil de rechazar,
lo que ha permitido
un descenso del caudal
productivo y, por consiguiente,
las posibilidades
de abordar los mercados
internacionales.
En este escenario, las partidas
de tomate a la UE
de las firmas murcianas
asociadas a Proexport en
el ejercicio de 2010/11 se
cifraron en 72.741toneladas.
Este guarismo supone
un descenso de un
23,3 por ciento respecto
a la campaña 2009/10 y
de un 33,3 por ciento si se
coteja con la media de los
últimos cinco años.
4.064 4.026
2008
2009
3.260
2010
TomATo-growIng ArEA In murcIA.
(Hectares). Source: MARM
the Murcian to-
Mato business
has known better
days. apart
froM the fierce
coMpetition of
aLL Major growing
countries,
there has been
too Much pressure
in consequence
of adverse
weather,
water suppLy,
and pests, which
is why the business
figures
show a downward
trend.
By Daniel LafuenteTorregrosa
revista@fyh.es
The very foundations of the
tomato business in the region
of Murcia have been
badly shaken. Several companies
cut their growing area
back and others, once big
players of the tomatoes sector,
have stopped growing
any tomato at all.
At the middle of the last decade,
more than 460,000 tons
of tomatoes were produced
on over 4,500 hectares in the
Murcia region. At present,
the growing area has dwindled
down to about 3,260
hectares; the production volume
is 341,700 tons.
These significant variations
are due, in the first place,
to problems with pests (virus)
and climatic adversities
which had a negative impact
on the growth of the crops
and complicated the growers
work, and to the pressure
exerted on the coastal zones
by the construction sector,
though this latter factor has
lost in importance since the
economic crisis in Spain has
hit hard on the building industry,
too.

Murcia loses
part of tomato
acreage
Be that as it may, as a matter
of fact there was virtually no
investing at all in production
facilities or in commercial
infrastructure, which led to
a loss of competitivity versus
the tomatoes business of
Almería or Morocco.
The 2008/09 season was a
true reflection of all this,
with a growing area of 4,026
hectares and a total output of
392,200 tons of Murcian tomatoes.
The following year,
the decline continued both
in exports and on the domestic
market where growers
from Murcia are highly
estimated for green and tasty
varieties.
Another important factor
is the low prices that sellers
have been realising over the
last two seasons, what further
complicated the situation.
Destinations. Over time, the
figures of tomato exports
from Murcia have been declining.
What has happened
is that it grew harder and
harder not to accept the money
offered by constructors in
the Aguilas and Mazarrón
regions. Production volumes
declined
and ultimately
it became
more difficult
to supply to
the markets abroad.
Against this backdrop,
the Murcian companies
associated to Proexport
exported 72,741 tons of
tomatoes to other European
countries in the
2010/11 season. This figure
is equivalent to a decrease
of 23,3 per cent compared
to 2009/10 and 33,3 per cent
compared to the average exports
of the last five years.
Tomato
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
39

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
40
Tomato
The Rebellion
tomato takes
the step to the
commercialization
Four years ago Vilmorín
launched to the market
a Raf tomato long life to
cover the European market,
its name is Rebelión.
Thanks to a campaign of
marketing very controlled
and the “premium” selection
of producers of the
South of Spain, the variety
of Raf has been becoming
important and confidence
among the producers.
The next step of Rebelión
is to settle in the market
and the stands of the European
supermarkets within
the sector of the flavour.
“Rebelión is one of the tomatoes
with better prices
in the market and on the
part of the operators which
is making easy that some
companies of reference
in the business of the tomato
want to give a major
boost”, Juan José Benito of
Vilmorín explains.
At this moment, the Rebelión
variety is being
worked by companies
like Casi, Vega Cañada,
Biosabor, Campojoyma,
Agroponiente, SAT Inver,
Coprohníjar and Agrupalmería.
The strong point
of this variety is between
January and March and “is
when the tomato reaches
its highest levels of quality
and their better prices”,
Joaquin González, technician
of Vilmorín, affirms.
Casi is one of the reference
companies that is betting
on this variety “giving
value to the product and
during the Fruit Logística
some tastings will be done
by a cook of Almería in the
stand of Casi”, from Vilmorín
explain.
Rebelión is working in different
European markets
taking advantage of the
long commercial life. The
range of Rebelión is going
to grow in the next years
and a new generation of
tomatoes of this family
with resistance to TYLCV.
Rebelión is a Raf tomato that ripens when is red.
Leading the
tomato business
With 4.3 million tons in
2010, Spain is the EU’s second
biggest tomatoes producer.
About 2.4 million
tons of the total volume
was for fresh consumption
while the rest was sent to
the food processing industry.
It is in the south-east of
Spain where 90 per cent of
the fresh tomatoes come
from; the remaining ten
per cent is accounted for
by the Canary Islands, the
Andalusian inland, and
Valencia and Castellonbased
companies.
The heavy weight of the
Spanish south-east can be
clearly seen at all levels and
by all parameters: on the
commercial level as well
as looking at business figures
of any type, the growing
area or volumes and
turnover. Almería is the
tomato-growing province
in Spain: in 2010, more
than 850,000 tons of fresh
tomatoes came from here.
And there is one company
that stands out among
the Almerian companies
which is the cooperative
Casi one of the big players
of international horticulture.
In the 2010/2011
season, Casi sent 240,000
tons of fresh products to
the markets, either grown
by their members or sup-
José María Andújar, president of CASI.
plied by companies Casi
works with.
The company not only has
been leader of the Spanish
tomato branch for many
years but also is one of the
biggest players both on the
Spanish market and at international
level.
Casi’s enormous potential
is also clearly demonstrated
by the cooperative’s
capacity to handle 2,000
tons of products a day.
Tomatoes account for over
97 per cent of the company’s
fresh produce volumes
and therefore are
the number one product;
nevertheless, during the
spring season, the company’s
product range includes
more variety as for instance
sweet and watermelons.
Though the domestic market
continues to be of high
relevance to Casi’s sales,
the importance of exports
to the company’s business
figures has increased. The
volumes sent to markets
like Germany, France, the
Netherlands, Belgium and
other destinations abroad
continue to grow just as
the shares of the Eastern
European countries do.
Last but not least, Casi is
determined not to lose
sight of Northern Africa
where opportunities may
come along...

Hall 1.2
B-10
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
41

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
42
Tomato
The flagship:
cherry tomatoes
For Spanish cherry tomatoes
more than for many
other vegetables, exports
are of enormous importance,
and among the destinations
of these exports,
the United Kingdom has
more relevance than ever
though there are other destinations
that can absorb
abundant volumes as for
instance France, Germany,
and the Netherlands; nevertheless,
in the Spanish
traders’ opinion, the major
obstacle to getting into the
markets is prices.
Nijarsol has about 70 hectares
under cultivation
and the yearly production
volume amount to somewhere
between 5,000 and
6,000 tons, depending
on climatic conditions.
The pear-shaped cherry
tomato and tomatoes on
the vine are the company’s
most successful products.
As to the company’s commercial
strategy applied
to these products, exports
always come first and the
principal target is Germany.
70 per cent of the
company’s cherry tomate
in triangular 250 g packagings
are sold to German
operators. The rest is
sent to Switzerland, The
United Kingdom, France,
the Netherlands, and The
Nordic countries. ‘With
the exception of Germany,
within the European
Union we sell cherry tomatoes
in the different
traditional formats: 250
g packagings stand for 90
per cent of these exports
and 400 g packages for the
rest”, explains Mr. Francisco
Cazorla, Sales Manager
at Nijarsol.
The cherry tomatoes are
sent to the supermarkets
with the Nijarsol brand.
Dedicated to the
cause of cherry
tomatoes
One cannot speak about
Spanish cherry tomatoes
without mentioning the
province of Granada where
more than 70 per cent of
this product come from. In
Granada, cherry tomatoes
are on sale year-round.
This tomatoes variety is
of the utmost importance
to European distribution
chains, above all in the
case of Great Britain which
is the first destination for
exports of cherry tomatoes
from Granada.
Behind the success of Granada
La Palma is the company’s
strategy of specialization
in specific products,
diversification of their
product range, and the
certification of production
processes. This policy has
provided the basis for Granada
La Palma’s relentless
growth since the beginnings
of the 2000s and one
of the products where this
can be seen most clearly is
cherry tomatoes.
The company’s overall
sales volume rose to
56,000 tons during the last
campaign and more or less
half of it was accounted for
by cherry tomatoes (loose,
pear-shaped, yellow, onthe-vine,
pear-shaped onthe-vine,
…). ‘With these
figures, La Palma has become
the leading grower
and trader of cherry tomatoes
worldwide’, says Mr.
David Del Pino, CEO at
Granada La Palma.
The predictions for the present
season point towards
an important increase of
sales volumes. Mr. Del
Pino predicts a rise of as
many as seven per cent.
In addition, Granada La
Palma’s range of products
include cucumbers which
David Del Pino,
CEO at Granada La Palma.
account for approximately
33 to 35 per cent of the
company’s overall volumes;
from September to
May, 500 tons of cherimoyas
are on sale; and, in
smaller quantities, spring
tomatoes, leek, and lettuces.
Granada La Palma is clearly
oriented toward exports
and about 90 per cent of
the company’s products
will be found all over Europe.
A ranking of destinations
would include German
(15 per cent); France
(13 per cent); the United
Kingdom (12 per cent);
and the Netherlands (6,5
per cent), besides other
countries that absorb
smaller volumes, among
them Belgium, Italy, Austria,
Poland and Russiaonia
y Rusia, entre otros.

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
43

44
Cucumbers account
for over 60 per cent
Cucumber growing in
Spain is almost entirely in
the hands of just two Andalusian
provinces. The
figures are clear on that
point: in 2010, out of a total
of 7,134 hectares, 4,610
were in Almería while in
the province of Granada
farmers grew cucumbers
on 2,099 hectares, all in
all 88 per cent of the total
growing area of this product.
The last season, 605,700
tons of cucumber came
from Andalusia. With
27,800 tons, grown on 245
hectares, the Canary Islands
follow.
For Nature Choice, a company
from Almería, cucumbers
represent one of
its sharpest commercial
weapons accounting for
close to 63 per cent of its
total sales, followed by
peppers with slightly less
than 30 per cent. Besides,
several summer crops
(sweet and watermelons),
that stand for 12% of sales,
and, to a lesser degree,
tomatoes are worth mentioning.
Others
1,4%
Baltics Republic
3,1%
Netherland
5,0%
France
8,1%
East Europe
8,2%
United Kingdom
8,7%
Scandinavian Countries
33,0%
Spain
16,0%
As to destinations, exports
are central to the company’s
success and the Nordic
countries and Germany
carry a lot of weight. With
regard to cucumbers and
peppers, Nature Choice
has been able to further
consolidate its position on
the before-mentioned markets
and also continues
to pursue its commercial
strategy at other important
spots of the fruit trade as
the Netherlands, the Baltic
States, to name just a few.
The same is true for sweet
and watermelons.
Of course, at Nature
Choice’s they do not turn
their backs on the Scandinavian
countries. On the
contrary, the corresponding
part of the company’s
turnover has considerably
increased over the last five
years as a result of the strategic
importance of these
countries of destination,
so much so that in 2010
more than 30 per cent of
the total sales of fresh produce
went to these countries.
Germany
16,5%
shArE of proDucTs of nATurE choIcE
DEpEnDIng on counTrIEs of DEsTInATIon (2010/11)
Fuente: Nature Choice.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Pepper-Cucumber
Juan Diego Cantón, Head of Canalex’s Sales Department.
Volumes go up
to 50,000 tons
Cucumbers are not only
the number one with regard
to volumes of vegetables
grown in the coastal
area og the province of
Granada but it also belongs
to the best-cared for
crops over its entire lifecycle.
Equally, companies
pay scrupulous attention
to every detail of handling
and packing before the
products are sent to domestic
and abroad clients.
Statistics clearly indicate
not only that cucumbers
are on the rise but also
how relevant a product it
is to this Andalusian province’s
trade.
At present, the Granadan
company Fulgencio Spa
runs five points of reception
along the coast of the
province thus being in a
position to store the company’s
annual output of
up to 50,000 tons of fresh
produce, including about
30,000 tons of cucumbers.
As to the current season,
Fulgencio Spa plans to
offer about the same volumes.
The company will also
persist with their plans for
investment in logistics in
order to enhance their corporate
capacity. ‘Last year,
we invested one million
euros in the mechanization
of the cucumber handling
and packing lines
which will contribute to
further cost cutting’, explains
Fulgencio Spa, the
company’s Managing Director.
The equipment of the cucumber
line with automatically
operating machines
makes a daily output of
120,000 kilos possible
which raise the total capacity
to 350,000 kilograms
per day.
Another interesting detail
of Fulgencio Spa’s roadmap
for the present season
is the importance placed
in optimizing the production
processes and in additional
improvements in
the field of closely controlling
every single product
of the wide range of fresh
produce the company offers.
‘To ensure consumers
healthy and residue-free
products is crucial is crucial
to our business’, Spa
points out.

With volumes of about
873,000 tons, Peppers are
among the heavyweights of
Spanish horticulture. They
are grown on approximately
19,500 hectares of which
7,475 are to be found in the
province of Almería, above
all in its western part. The
second major growing area
is the Campo de Cartagena
region and part of southern
Alicante, where peppers are
grown on over 1,500 hectares.
Fulgencio Spa, the company’s Managing Director.
Pepper-Cucumber
Sales volumes
of 60,000 tons
Canalex Group is completely
immersed in a process of further
expansion within the
horticultural business. Last
season, the company’s trade
volume was 60,000 tons with
a considerable year-on-year
increase in the rate of return.
The good results are largely
owing to the peppers branch
which stands for between 25
and 30 per cent of Canalex’s
total volume, followed by
watermelons and cucumbers
with approximately 20 per
cent each. In addition, the
company’s range of products
includes tomatoes, courgettes,
and Chinese cabbage.
In preparation for the present
season, Canalex Group went
one step further in order to
increase the company’s efficiency
and competitivity.
Both the packaging line for
cucumbers and the line for
cherry tomatoes, which is
also used for baby peppers,
have been equipped with robots.
That way, ‘we achieve
Soltir reached the 25,000 tons of
pepper during 2011. Almost 8,000
tons were marketed in California
peppers and the rest in Lamuyo
peppers. The surface of pepper in
Murcia goes down by bad prices
and the farmers is betting on other
crops.
Artichokes and courgettes are
gaining positions and the company
traded 9,100 tons of artichoke
and 2,500 tons of courgette. Arti-
the optimization of the corresponding
part of the packaging
process and the product
distribution that follows
which increases the quality
of the product handling’,
Juan Diego Cantón, Head of
Canalex’s Sales Department,
explains.
When it comes to deciding
into which business branches
to invest, cucumbers and
tomatoes will surely not lose
any of their crucial importance
to this Group.
New
possibilities
choke was the product that is better
paid exceed 0.7 euros, Angel
García, manager at Soltir says.
The forecast for the pepper are not
good and “we expect a decrease in
the surface of California pepper,”
says Garcia. However, the lamuyo
will increase the surface.
The business of the export increases
in Soltir company, although
Spain remains the leading market
for the company.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
45

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
46
Melon
From melon
to watermelon
Ejidomar has bet on the watermelon in this spring campaign.
The decrease of the demand
of the Galia and
yellow melons begins to
arrive at the Spanish producing
companies. The last
two campaigns have had
bad prices and the producers
begin to lose the confidence
in this product.
Ejidomar has been one of
the companies of reference
in early Galia melon
supplying the first Galia
melons of the European
market, thanks to a surface
that surpassed 100
hectares in Almería with a
tasty Galia.
For the spring of 2012,
this company from Almería
has done an strategic
change from melon to watermelon.
“This year we
have more than 100 hectares
of watermelon with
all kind of varieties, since
this product has better
behavior”, José Antonio
Baños, chairman of Ejid-
omar, affirms.
Ejidomar have had always
an average of 70-80 hectares
of watermelons, but
the bad prices of the last
campaigns have caused
the decrease of the Galia
melon.
This campaign, Ejidomar
will have 50 hectares of
Galia melon opposite to
100 hectares of previous
years. However, the company
has kept the line of
melon and “we have more
Cantaloup melon than in
the last campaign”, Baños
assures.
In this way, the watermelon
has become the second
most important product of
Ejidomar in volume. Sweet
pepper is the first place
with more than 15,000
tons. The company has
5,000 tons of cucumbers
and 4,000 tons of courgettes.
“Goody Vegs”,
new brand of
quality for pepper
and aubergine.
Brand strategy. The Agrupaadra
company has
launched to the market the
“Goody Vegs” brand. “This
brand is to keep a complete
schedule of a product of
maximum quality focused
on pepper and aubergine”
José Cárdenas, commercial
manager of the export
of Agrupaadra, explains.
The result of the first
months of “Goody Vegs”
has been positive because
it has reached a good place
faster than expected and
the loyalty of the customers
is more than remarkable”
Cárdenas affirms.
Agrupaadra, established in
1973, has increased its international
presence in the
last years thanks to a “continuous
specialization and
planning of the production”
Cárdenas explains.
“We do not understand
the world
of the commercialization
if it
is not based on a
correct planning
and the obligation
to maintain
a stable schedule”,
Cárdenas as-
sures.
The company is specialized
in three lines of product:
pepper, aubergine and
watermelon, which allows
controlling the production
in all the levels and “a suitable
service to the customers”,
Cárdenas says.
Agrupaadra is one of the
17 partners of AGF - Association
Fashion- Group
and from next spring it
will have the “Fashion” watermelon.
AGF will show
in Fruit Logistica the “Ice
Box” which is a new format.
The company is doing
together with Syngenta the
model of work Syngenta
Growing System, “a system
that allows guaranteeing
the food safety to the consumers”.

Hall 18
B-02a
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
47

48
Fashion watermelon
is looking for
the international
markets
The Fashion watermelon
is looking for the international
markets with a watermelon
without seeds
that has succeed in the
Spanish market and has
favored that this product
returned to a consumption
of more than eight kilos
per capita.
This watermelon is produced
by a group of 17
companies in which the
Agrícola Navarro de Haro
stands out. The watermelon
is the main product of
this company with a volume
of 25,000 tons with
the Fashion, Nadeha and
Nany brands.
This Andalusian company
has watermelons without
seeds, watermelons or
small watermelons. “The
watermelon is a line that
we are going to keep on developing
in the next years
as much for the Spanish
market as for the international
one”, José Navarro,
manager of Agrícola Nav-
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Melon
arro de Haro, affirms.
At present, 80 per cent of
the watermelon of this
company is commercialized
in Spain, since “the
Spanish market appreciates
the quality of the
watermelon”, Navarro assures.
Other products. Besides
watermelon, this company
commercializes tomatoes
and lettuces. The lettuce
has been the last product
introduced by the company
and at present it has
a supply of 15,000 tons
which 90 per cent is sent to
the international markets.
The production of the tomato
is 6,500 tons being
a complementary product.
The portfolio of tomatoes
has a range of long life tomato,
plum tomato, truss
tomato and green tomato
for the Spanish market.
This company belongs to
the Unexport partnership
from last year.
The watermelon is the main product of Agrícola Navarro de Haro.
The total volume of Spanish-grown
Santa Claus
melons (“piel de sapo”)
amounts to some 442,000
tons; the growing area is
aproximately 12.000 hectares,
the biggest part of
which lies in the Castilla-
La Mancha region.
The company Melones
Ramón Díaz, situated in
La Mancha, offers melons
year-round, from November
to April imported
products. But the company
has felt the impact of the
current ecomomic crisis
in their supplier countries.
‘Not too long ago,
we worked with Costa
Rica, Panama, Argentina,
Senegal, Morocco, Algeria
and Brazil but with the
decrease in demand, we
limit our imports to products
from Brazil sometimes
supplemented by
Senegal’, Mr. Julián Díaz,
of Melones Ramón Díaz,
explains.
The volume of imported
melons is close to 2,000
tons.
During the rest of the year,
Melones Ramón Díaz
sources from the domestic
market. Their Andalusian
melons come from two
Julián Díaz.
A trade volume
of 16,000 tons of
melon
regions very well-known
for their melons: Almería
and Seville. “The season
is opened by Almería; this
time, the quality has been
a bit better than 2008’,
Díaz says.
Together with the products
bought in Murcia, Badajoz,
and La Mancha, the
total volume climbs up
to 18,000 tons which is
slightly below last season’s
20,000 tons.
Sweet melons is Melones
Ramón Diaz’s champion
product and stands for
about 80 per cent of the
company’s activities; watermelons
account for the
remaining 20%.
As to destinations, the
domestic market absorbs
65 per cent of all sweet
and watermelons, while
the remaining 35% are
exported, with Portugal
being the most important
country.
Among the clients of
Melón Ramón Díaz,
there is a clear majority
of wholesalers –Mercavalladolid,
Mercasevilla,
Mercamadrid, Mercasalamanca
and García Rivero,
besides others.

The confirmation of
the possibilities of the
Piel de sapo in Europe
Procomel is one of the Spanish
companies that is working
the introduction of the
piel de sapo in the European
markets. The first experience
was in the 80’s “where
there was confusion with
this melon and there was
not much acceptance”, Celedonio
Buendía, manager of
Procomel explains.
This tendency begins to
change and “the European
are increasing the demand
of this melon”, Buendía affirms.
For this reason, the
companies begin to work
with varieties of smaller size,
since “the piel de sapo of 3-4
kilos is too big for some European
markets”.
Procomel is one of the companies
specialized in the
piel de sapo with volumes
of around 45,000 tons commercialized
during the 12
months, thanks to the agreements
with producers of Brazil,
the own crops in Senegal
and Spain.
The campaign is from April
to October with Spanish
supply, later with Brazil and
to enter with supply of Senegal
“from the end of February
until the end of April”,
Buendía affirms.
Spain is the reference destination
for Procomel, but the
exports mean 35 per cent of
the operations, standing out
the destinations of England,
Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
as well as some others
of the East.
Besides piel de sapo the company
has own varieties like
Sugar Baby and Sugar Baby
Gold which is a melon produced
for the European market
because of its smaller
size.
The company is also developing
lines of watermelon with
a volume of more than 5,000
tons. In this product, “we
work and collaborate with
many seeds companies that
test their new varieties in
Senegal to know the behavior
of the product in these
latitudes”, Buendía explains.
This relation “allows us to
have guarantees and advantages
for these new varieties”.
Celedonio Buendía is the manager of Procomel.
Melon
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
49

50
“Mellisimo”, the piel
de sapo of the future
rijk zwaan has reaLized that the consuMption
of gaLia decreases and its bet in
the future is the sMaLLer pieL de sapo for
the eu Market.
Rijk Zwaan is one of the multinationals
of seeds that has
realized that the demand of
the Galia in Europe is decreasing
and begins to look
for new alternatives in the
business of the melon. The
company thinks that the piel
de sapo is a product with
possibilities in the European
market.
A blindly tasting done to the
German consumers showed
that the flavor of the piel de
sapo likes more than other
varieties like Galia and yellow,
melons that are consumed
in Germany.
This company is developing
the “Mellisimo” range, a
piel de sapo melon of 1,5-2
kilograms to introduce it in
the European market with
11 Brix degrees and good for
eating. The first variety of
“Mellisimo” is Ricura.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Melon
Alberto Cuadrado.
This variety is already being
developed by reference companies
of melon in Almería,
Murcia and Valencia, in order
to set up it in the international
and Spanish market.
“We are sure that “Mellisi-
“Mellisimo” is the bet of the future of Rijk Zwaan on piel de sapo.
mo” is the piel de sapo of the
future, since its size is adapted
to the new demands of the
family, it has good bouquet
and the necessary degrees of
sugar to be pleasant”, Alberto
Cuadrado, person in charge
of the Projects in Rijk Zwaan,
assures.
Last campaign the company
did a trial in the Spanish
chain Consum. “The experience
was very positive, since
the consumer looked for a
piel de sapo of smaller size
and good for eating”, Cuadrado
explains.
In addition the” Mellisimo
range travels well and the
behavior is good between
Brazil and Europe”, Alberto
Cuadrado affirms. Thanks
to this “Mellisimo” is present
the 12 months of the year.
The company assumes that
“the piel de sapo needs pro-
motion and training of the
European consumer, although
some German chains
have already shown their interest
in this variety”, Cuadrado
explains.
Trazability. Rijk Zwaan is going
to start up a trazability
system to differentiate between
“Mellisimo” and other
piel de sapo varieties of small
size, “and thus to avoid quality
frauds. This type of projects
needs a total control to
avoid melons of bad quality
into the market for being
smaller and cause the loss of
confidence of the market”,
Cuadrado affirms.
This system of trazability will
have the stamp of “Mellisimo”
that Rijk Zwaan will give
to companies and producers
that work with the varieties
of this seeds company.

Hall 18
B-02b
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
51

52
Broccoli is the
different product
of Murcia
The broccoli is the cause
that the horticulture of
Murcia has a different
product from November
to May. Murcia has more
than 9,100 hectares of a
product which main markets
of consumption are
the United Kingdom, Nordic
markets and Germany.
Agrícola Santa Eulalia is
one of the “Top Ten” companies
of the production
of broccoli in Europe with
14,000 tons. “The United
Kingdom and Germany
are our most important
markets, and now we have
begun to work with new
destinations like Spain”,
Juan Mula, manager of
Agrícola Santa Eulalia explains.
Broccoli is the reference
product of this company
and is one of the suppli-
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Brassica
Juan Mula of Agrícola Santa Eulalia.
ers of reference of chains
like Morrisons and several
German chains, market in
which the company has
grown in the last years.
The company has extended
some plans with German
chains and at the present
day it is working with
Metro and some discounts.
Besides broccoli, the company
has increased its
portfolio of products towards
artichoke and melon.
The artichoke is the
product with the best behavior
during the last campaign
and at present it has
70 hectares and with the
intention of keeping on increasing.
The company has renewed
its facilities, located in Totana
(Murcia), in order to
give better service to suppliers
and customers.
Broccoli
Campos de Lorca
and Alimer lead
the Spanish
supply
Campos de Lorca recover
its place in the ranking of
producers of broccoli in
the south of Europe with a
supply of 33,000 tons after
the increase of the surface
and purchases to independent
producers done
during the last campaign.
The company has found
in the Nordic markets and
Spain two good allies to
increase its numbers. Norway
has become an interesting
market and today it
is the supplier of reference
of Baman.
Alimer has similar
amounts than 2009-2010
when it increased and improved
its situation of the
broccoli which is the most
important product of this
company of Murcia.
The important demand
of the experienced Spanish
market in the campaign
2010-2011 has made
easier that Agromediterránea
which is the unique
supplier of broccoli for
Mercadona, has reached
18,000 tons, although during
the present campaign
“the demand seems to be
stopped”, the producers of
Murcia affirm.
Agrícola Santa Eulalia produced
around 16,000 tons,
being the United Kingdom
and Germany the reference
markets.
Some producing companies
have joined to the
business of broccoli taking
advantage of the possibilities
of the Spanish market.
Besides Murcia, Navarra
has also some producers of
broccoli that supply to the
market during the months
of summer.
However, the tendency
has been to decrease since
the companies of Murcia
bet on Castilla-La Mancha
(centre of Spain) like the
place for growing broccoli
during the months of summer.

Murcia recovers
its place with the
artichoke
The artichoke was the
product that reached the
best price among the producers
of Murcia in the
campaign 2010-2011 that
was 0.7 Euros. The reason
for this price comes from
the problems of the hybrid
artichokes of Peru which
behavior is not correct
in the conditions of this
South American country.
Industry has returned to
Murcia that bets on “Tudela”
varieties which have
“better texture and flavor
and reach better quality in
the markets”, Andres Legaz
(photo), the manager
of Almerca which is one
of the companies of reference
of artichoke in Spain,
affirms.
This company reached a
supply of 12,000 tons during
the campaign 2010-
2011 with Spain as reference
destination since
“the Spanish market value
better the artichoke than
the international destina-
tions”, Legaz assures.
The situation has not
changed so much in the
present campaign, although
the prices of industry
artichoke are between
40-50 cents of Euro and
the fresh product reaches
60-80 cent of Euro.
Besides artichoke, Almerca
has produced 12,000
tons of piel de sapo melon
during the last three years.
Spain is also an important
market “although we are
increasing our international
presence because there
are more and more customers
who demand this
product”, Legaz affirms.
The company has other
products like beans, courgettes
or broccolis. In the
last years, it has increased
its direct operations with
the Spanish chains of supermarkets,
whereas the
international operations
are done with importers
or with “category management”.
Almerca is one of the companies specialized in artichoke.
Brassica
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
53

Turnover: seven
million euros
In spite of a complicated
situation of the economy
in general, in Andalusia
organic farming continues
to grow and is probably
one of very few branches
that show a clear upward
trend. This model within
the food production sector
has proven modern
and innovative and its social
and environmental
benefits are starting to get
more and more clearly perceived.
There are already
6,316 hectares cultivated
by organic horticulturists
in Andalusia.
That is the background
against which the Granada-based
company Ekobaby
has been presenting
steadily growing business
figures. Their firm determination
to rely on working
in compliance with the
requirements of the norms
on organic growing has
been the key to the company’s
success that has led
to a broader and broader
range of products: while
cucumbers, cherry tomatoes,
and tomatoes on the
vine as their bulk products,
Ekobaby completes
the offer with aubergines,
other types of cucumbers,
watermelons, and courgettes.
Thanks to the positive evolution,
last season’s profits
rose to almost seven
million euros which is
why the company has decided
to invest in amplifying
its facilities by 600
square meters. The goal is
to ‘improve handling and
packing processes’, as Mr.
Francisco Correa, Managing
Director at Ekobaby,
54 puts it.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Organic
Francisco Correa, Managing Director
at Ekobaby.
Last season, the company
sold 8,000 tons of horticultural
products which
corresponded to a market
value of seven million euros.
The total growing area
of 67 hectares is divided
into smaller parts in the
Coast of Málaga region,
near Níjar, in the municipal
area of El Ejido and in
the north of the provinces
of Almería and Granada.
With regard to Ecobaby’s
strategies, there is a clear
orientation towards business
relations with clients
who are after higher-value
products. That is why
the the Nordic countries,
Great Britain, Germany,
France, and Switzerland,
among others, are their
most important countries
of destination.
Trade Volume will
reach 6,000 tons
of organic produce
over the years, ecopark has been carving
out a Market share within the
coMpLicated branch of organic fruits
and vegetabLes. predictions point to a
trade voLuMe of 6,000 tons.
With more than 15,000
hectares registered as organic
growing area with
the Department of Environment
and Rural and
Marine Areas (Ministerio
de Medio Ambiente, Medio
Rural y Marino - MARM),
Spain is Europe’s second
biggest grower of organic
fruits and vegetables.
Ecopark, a steadily expanding
company, closed
the last season with 5,800
tons of organic produce
sold. Their growth is based
on firm reliance on its
own production, which
accounts for 70 per cent of
its total trade volume, and
on the 12 growers Ecopark
collaborates with and who
stand for the remaining 30
per cent.
This Almeria-based company’s
production of organics
is going absolutely
nicely. Predictions for the
next season expect a trade
volume of 6,000 tons;
cherry tomatoes in all its
varieties are of central
importance to their business
activities. ‘Thanks to
growing areas in different
zones, we are able to offer
these products year-round’,
Mr. Luis Olcina, Managing
Director at Ecopark, tells
us. As crop rotation is essential
to organic growing,
the company’s product
range also includes courgettes,
watermelons, beans
and eggplants, to name
just a few.
Ecopark is clearly exportsoriented
and their products
can be found all over
Europe: Germany, the UK,
France, Switzerland, Italy,
Austria and the Netherlands,
among others, are
the primary target markets
for the company’s organic
products.
In order to maintain the
present course, Ecopark
plans to invest 200,000 euros
in expanding facilities
and modern machinery
next year.
Luis Olcina, Managing Director at Ecopark.

LQA Thinking Organic begins
to be one of the companies
of reference in organic
vegetables in Spain.
Its volume will reach
4,000 tons in the present
campaign with the organic
courgette and aubergine
like its reference products.
The company has reach
agreements with some
Andalusian producers of
organic vegetables, although
LQA has own
greenhouses and “90 per
cent of the courgette that
we commercialized is own
production”, José Manuel
Escobar, manager of LQA,
explains.
The United Kingdom is the
most important market
for this company where it
Jose Manuel Escobar, manager of LQA.
Strong in organic
courgette
works both with specialized
importers and different
programs of the British
chains.
Besides the United Kingdom,
France has become
an important destination
for LQA, where it works
mainly with specialized
wholesalers, a channel
that controls more than
40 per cent of the organic
demand of fruits and vegetables.
The company will be present
in the 2012 edition of
Biofach, because “our aim
is to extend our network
of customers towards the
Nordic markets, since they
are important consumers
of organic products”, Escobar
affirms.
In Almería, the growing
area dedicated to organic
horticultural and tuber
crops was 1,564 hectares
in 2010 which was more
or less 42 per cent of the
whole of Andalusia. The
province of Almería also
stand out for being the region
where we find an important
concentration of
the area that is cultivated
by organic seeds and plantlets
producers: ten hectares
out of the 22 we find in all
of Andalusia.
To Almería-based Biosabor,
tomatoes are the core
business branch; in addition,
this company offers
their clients cucumbers
and watermelons, though
in smaller quantities.
To Mr. Francisco Belmonte,
Head of the Sales Department
at Biosabor, the
total reliance on the company’s
own production is
the key to their success:
100 per cent of their sales
are “home-grown”.
As to destinations, the
company aims at the European
market: in Germany,
France, and the Scandinavian
countries, Biosabor
works with fruit traders
Organic
Consolidation
in the range of
organic products
Francisco Belmonte.
and the purchase departments
of big supermarket
chains because ‘this is how
we get guarantees as to
sales volumes and prices
for the whole year”, Mr.
Belmonte says.
At present, the company
continues its expansion
process. For now, their facilities
cover close to 1,600
square meters and their
capacity of handling and
packaging tomatoes onthe-vine
is aproximately
3,000 kilos per hour. But,
as Mr. Belmonte puts it, ‘in
the short term, we plan to
enhance our capacity for
manipulation and handling
at the very production
facilities which will
be a way to further cost
cutting’.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
55

56
Spain as organic
destination
Spain is one of the great
producers of organic fruits
and vegetables but its consumption
is the lowest of
the European Union. The
consumed organic fruits
and vegetables in Spain do
not mean not even one per
cent of the conventional
ones.
However, the opportunities
are arising from
business as much by the
chains of supermarkets as
by specialized stores. At
present, El Corte Inglés,
Eroski, Carrefour and Alcampo
are the four chains
that have already organic
fruits and vegetables in the
stands.
In addition, Ecoveritas, the
biggest supermarket specialized
in organic products
of Spain has already
20 stores and its objective
is to continue growing.
In this situation and facing
the lack of dealers of organic
fruits and vegetables,
the Biofrutal company has
taken the decision to supply
to specialized small
stores and to chains of supermarkets
in Spain.
The company has a commercial
network that allows
it to carry out this
work and “to supply from
a small store with organic
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Organic
Marcos Barranco, manager of
Biofrutal.
products in the South to
a chain of supermarkets”,
Marcos Barranco, manager
of Biofrutal, explains.
Production. Biofrutal has
an own production of
1,500 tons of fruits, thanks
to its 100 own hectares,
although it manages 200
hectares of particular producers.
The strong point of the
company is the organic
stone fruit that exports to
the European markets and
from this year to the Spanish
chains and to stores
specialized in organic
products.
Antonio Lavao.
4,000 tons of
organic fruits and
vegetables on sale
At present, there are 78
companies that grow organic
fruits and vegetables
in Andalusia, about 21 per
cent of all companies.
The majority of these organic
growers are to found
in the provinces of Almería,
Málaga, and Granada:
55 companies all in all who
produce, in the first place,
vegetables and subtropical
fruits apart from citrus in
the case of Almeria.
Málaga-based company
Frunet continues its
growth in the organic sector.
The biggest part of the
4,000 tons of vegetables
the company offers (pearshaped
cherry tomatoes,
cherry tomatoes on-thevine,
and tomatoes on-thevine)
are for exports.
Since Frunet started doing
business in the Algarrobo
municipality (province of
Malaga) in 2003, the company’s
volumes and business
figures have been rising
steadily.
Behind this success story
lies Frunet’s firm determination
to rely on fruits
and vegetables and to concentrate
above all on subtropical
fruits as avocados
and mangoes. Add to this
a strategy of working with
clients who go in for highquality
products and services
- that is how Frunet
has achieved to firmly establish
within the market
of organics.
At present, the challenge
is to guarantee imports
of avocados which is crucial
to Frunet’s capacity
to offer complete services
to their many clients. ‘By
way of imports from different
Latin American
countries as Mexico, Peru,
and Chile, we are able to
complete our sales cycle.
In other words, thanks
to these imports and, of
course, the Spanish-grown
products we offer, we are
in a position to provide
sales and services all year
round, in the first place to
our clients abroad.’ This is
how the Nordic countries,
Germany, France, and the
UK have become Frunet’s
most important markets.

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
57

58
30,000 tons of
strawberries
About 6,400 hectares out
of the province’s total
strawberry-growing area
of 8,169 hectares were under
cultivation during the
2010-2011 season, according
Freshuelva. Supposing
the present season’s actually
cultivated area does
not differ too much from
that figure, the production
volume will reach some
245,000 tons which is
similar to volumes of years
past.
Cuna de Platero is one of
the strawberry - growing
companies from Huelva
Juan Báñez, general manager at
Cuna de Platero.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Strawberry
and one of the big players
at that: about 30.000 tons
of these delicate berries
come from this company.
To get them to the most demanding
markets in absolutely
perfect conditions,
the fruit has to be treated
with utmost care. All the
more so as today exports
stand for 90 per cent of
this company’s sales with
Germany and France absorbing
the biggest volumes.
Furthermore, Italy,
Denmark, and Great Britain,
among more countries,
must be mentioned.
As to distribution on the
domestic market, 89 per
cent of the strawberries
that are not exported get
into the Spanish market
via the big distribution
chains; Cuna de Platero’s
first client on the domestic
market is the Galician
chain Gadisa.
With respect to wholesale
trade as an additional sales
channel, Cuna de Platero
relies on working with Fruver
and Certrimerca, in the
first place.
It is thanks to its facilities’
capacities that the company
is able to respond effiiently
to the demand of the
markets: up to 500,000
tons a day can be handled
and packed whenever the
market demands tend to
peak, which normally is
from late March to the end
of April.
2011 turnover:
120 million
In view of the positive
overall results of the berries
seasons, the growers of
the province of Huelva rely
more and more on these
red fruit. This is clearly reflected
by the increase by
25 per cent in the raspberries-growing
area this season.
This figure shows very
clearly that these berries
are becoming firmly established
in Huelva. The total
production volumes of this
province rose to 11,350
tons last season,.
The marketing company
Onubafruit have seen an
increase in their turnover
by more than ten per cent,
from €110 million in the
2010 season to 121 millon
the following year.
This growth rate is reflected
in the optimistic forecasts
for the current red fruit
season’s results though
Carlos Esteve, Head of
the Onubafruit Sales Department,
announces that
‘available figures point to a
certain general consolidation.
With regard to raspberries,
we expect the season
to become rather hard
because the production periods
overlap’.
Onubafruit expects to
maintain the volume of
6,000 tons of raspberries
of last season and will also
Carlos Estevez, commercial manager
Onubafruit
try to reach once more the
sales volume of 400 tons of
blackberries, 100 tons of
which are imports, in the
first place from Mexico.
But where the most spectacular
growth rates have
been predicted by Onubafruit
is for blueberries:
apart from their own 120
hectares of growing area,
imported volumes from
the southern hemisphere
will almost reach 500 tons,
sent, in the first place from
Uruguay and Chile. That
way, total sales will rise to
about 2,200 tons. In terms
of growth, these figures
mean that this berry will
see a 47 per cent year-onyear
increase as to volume
and sales figures.

It has arrived in the centre
of Europe with strawberry
sofruce is one
of the coMpanies
of reference in
the business of
the strawberry
in france. its voLuMe
of More than
25,000 tons have
Made of it to be in
a good position in
the Market.
Since the last campaign, Sofruce
reached an agreement
with the Austrian company
Ströbl to develop the business
in the markets of the
Centre and East of Europe.
The Ströbl company has
new facilities of 4,500
squared meters in the Market
of Vienna to face with
guarantees the shipments to
the East of Europe. “We are
very happy with the trade
relation with Ströbl, since
we are improving our situation
in the markets of the
East of Europe”, Michel Cebrian,
manager of Sofruce,
explains.
The shipments of berries
of this company to Austria
have increased thanks to
Ströbl and “our prospects of
commerce are good”, Pierre
Magrit, commercial manager
of Sofruce, affirms.
At present the company has
started its commercial operations
in Croatia, Serbia
and Slovenia. “The Slovenian
market is very interesting
since there is purchasing
power for delicate products
and interesting networks
both between wholesalers
and between supermar-
Strawberry
Pierre Magrit is the commercial manager of Sofruce.
kets”, Magrit explains.
The strawberry is among
the portfolio of products of
this company during the 12
months of the year and it
has also multiplied the operations
with tomatoes.
The international expansion
of Sofruce is important,
the exports are 70
per cent of its business and
30 per cent is sent to the
French market. The chains
of supermarkets mean 90
per cent of the business of
Sofruce.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
59

60
Organics account
for 15 per cent
of the company’s
output
The Spanish efforts to establish
organic fruit and
vegetables growing as a
model of economic and
social development are led
by the countries southern
region of Andalusia. The
biggest subtropical fruits
growing area is to be found
in the province of Málaga:
about 450 hectares.
Malaga-based grower
Trops is firmly resolved to
rely on its organic business
branch. Over the last campaign,
15 per cent of their
subtropical fruits were
sold under the “Entreríos”
brand for organic produce.
The company has not been
been confining themselves
to avocados, though, but
has included mangoes,
too. ‘We will sustain these
efforts over the next years
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Tropical
concentrating on just one
thing: exports’, says Mr.
Enrique Colilles, Managing
Director at Trops.
Within the business
branch of conventionally-grown
products, the
company will continue focussing
on avocados and
mangoes. Trops’s upwards
trend is mirrored in the
amplification to 14,000
square meters of the site
where the company’s new
facilities are to be constructed
from February
2012 on. Added to the existing
6,000 square meters,
“we will be able to increase
our handling and packing
capacities, not least thanks
to a refrigerated storing
zone for 3,000 pallets”, informs
Colilles.
Enrique Colilles, Managing Director at Trops.
Going to sell
10,000 tons of
avocados
The avocado production
at the coast of Málaga,
on the Mediterranean,
reflects what the international
markets demand:
the Hass variety accounts
for 75 per cent of exports.
France continues to be the
first destination, though
the shares that go to the
UK, the Netherlands and
Germany are rising.
Málaga-based company
Reyes Gutiérrez has been
able to maintain its business
after putting into operation
their new facilities.
Over the present season,
they plan to put about
10,000 tons of avocados
on the markets, equivalent
to a ten per cent year-onyear
increase.
The last season had been
closed with a total sales
volume of 9,000 tons of avocado
and ‘optimum sales
and business figures’, Mr.
Juan Antonio Reyes, Man-
Juan Antonio
Reyes, CEO at
Reyes Gutiérrez.
aging Director at Reyes
Gutiérrez, says.
His company has achieved
the goal of balancing operations
on the domestic
market, increasing significantly
their sales volumes
within Spain that by now
have gone up to 40% of
the total sales, and their
international transactions
which stand for the
remaining 60 per cent,
France being the heaviest
client.
Apart from the French
market, Reyes Gutiérrez
has managed to consolidate
the company’s position
in the Netherlands,
Great Britain and on Eastern
European markets as
well as ‘to be in a position
to to offer avocados yearround,
thanks to imports
from diverse origins as, for
instance Peru, Chile or, to
a lesser degree, Mexico’,
Mr. Reyes explains.

Avocado with the
company’s own
“Hass” brand
In 2010, Spain exported more
than 54,000 tons of avocados
worth 86 million euros with
high penetration rates on
markets like Germany, Denmark,
Sweden, France, and
the United Kingdom, apart
from other reference markets.
Frutas El Romeral occupies
an eminent position within
the economy of the province
of Granada. The company’s
Managing Director, Mr. Antonio
Sánchez, has been determined
to face up to the
constant ups and downs of
today’s fruits and vegetables
market. To achieve that goal,
he elaborated a strategy that
guarantees his company’s ultimate
efficiency and profitability.
It is no accident that
Frutas El Romeral is one of
the companies with the highest
output figures among
Granada-based businesses.
The company’s efforts to offer
maximum-quality products
are reflected in its quality
policy of selling their
avocados under the “Hass”
Tropical
Antonio Sánchez, Managing Director at Frutas El Romeral.
label. ‘We have successfully
registered the brand that we
use for our products and the
response from the different
destinations is good: consumers
identify our brand
with the variety of avocado’,
says Mr. Sánchez.
Last season, Frutas El Romeral
sold 4,000 tons of avocado,
which is a long-standing crop
in the region; for the current
season, predictions indicate a
5 to 10 per cent increase.
Though the Hass variety accounts
for the biggest part
of Frutas El Romeral’s sales
volume, the company also
offers about 500,000 kilos of
“Bacon” and “Fuerte” which
is sent to a wide varieties of
destinations, too.
Eighty per cent of the total
volume is for exports and is
sent to other European countries,
overseas destinations
(United States and Canada)
and the Middle East (countries
around the Persian
Gulf).
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
61

62
Five origins for
avocado supply to
Europe
Avocados from Spain are
recovering their place in
the European trade, not
least thanks to the imports
from the southern hemisphere.
In the 2009-2010
season, consumption of
this product in Spain rose
to more than 21,000 tons,
about 27 per cent of the
Spanish production volume.
Málaga-based Maisara
Fruit’s offer includes over
40 different products
grown by the company’s
more than 100 suppliers.
Fresh fruits (bananas, apples,
pears) account for the
bulk of their trade volume
but the share of subtropical
fruits, above all avocados,
also stand out. The
lsat season saw a considerable
increase in this last
product’s import volumes:
from Peru between May
and September; Chilean
avocados from October
to December; from December
to February, from
Morocco; and last but not
least Brazilian avocados in
February and argentinean
product in July. The European
market and Morocco
are the principal destinations.
Avocados with the company’s
brand Breda and
Amy comply with all European
norms on quality
and traceability. ‘Our principal
goal is to offer a highquality
fresh product and
deliver it on time to our client.
That is why our quality
controls are absolutely
tight and our logistics solutions
are the best to be
found on the market’, says
Mohamed Oulkadi, Managing
Director at Maisara
Fruit.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Tropical-IPM
Mohamed Oulkadi, Managing Director at Maisara Fruit.
Launch of the
long-duration
swirskii bag
The protocols on the application
of natural enemies
for pest control in cucumber
growing are well-defined
and up to date but
one important problem
remained to be solved: the
decline in the efficiency
of the Amblyseius swirskii
bags three or four weeks
after application.
What happened was that
once the swirskii mites
had been released from
the bag, they dispersed
over the plants’ leaves but
then lacked food and suffered
the consecuences of
fungicide application and
low temperatures which
led to a loss of efficiency.
Until now, the only solution
to that problem has
been to apply new bags.
Against this backdrop,
Koppert designed the new
Swirski-Mite LD (Long
Duracion) bag. Experts at
Koppert stress the advantages
of this new product:
• The swirskii mites are released
over a longer period
of time.
• A higher quantity. The
Swirski-Mite LD bags by Koppert.
LD packaging contains 50
per cent more mites.
• The new bag presents a
higher resistance to low
temperatures in winter.
During the coldest days of
winter, both pests and the
Acari reduce their activity.
By contrast, the predatory
mites inside the bag remain
unaffected which is
why there always is food
available to the swirskii.
When temperatures start
rising again, the bag gets
back to proper functioning.
The Koppert technicians
recommend to place at
least one bag every other
plant. To use one bag per
plant can advance the establishing
of the mites
by one week or up to ten
days. Nevertheless, when
later the leaves of different
plants touch each
other, the advantage of
closely placed bags vanishes
because that is when
the mites start spreading
quickly all over the entire
crop.

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
63

64
Volumes climb
up to 25,000 tons
Catalonia is Spain’s major
apple growing region. This
year, volumes of apples
from Catalonia are going
to to climb up to 324,980
tons, equivalent to a yearon
year increase by 3.6 per
cent. For Girona Fruits, apples
are their top fruit and
that is not going to change.
Of an overall 25,000 tons
of the company’s fruits,
apples account for 95 per
cent. The remaining five
per cent are accounted
for by pears, Conference,
in the first place, and to
a lesser degree Abate Fetel
and Comice. Girona
Fruits’s stone fruit volumes
are negligibly small.
Golden is the apples variety
that accounts for a
market share of about 40
per cent; second comes
Red Delicious (20 per
cent); Gala and Granny
Smith follow with 15 per
cent each; and the last is
the Fuji variety (10 per
cent). However, from the
commercial point of view,
there are differences between
these varieties as to
the evolution of their performance.
After substantial decreases
in 2009 and 2010, caused
by bad climatic conditions
in the major growing zones,
Spain’s apple producers are
going to recover volumes
similar to the average of the
last years.
Giropoma, recently founded
by the merger of Costa Brava
Fruticultors and Frutícola
Empordà, both from the region
of Empordá (Girona),
plans to get approximately
40,000 tons of apples out of
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Apple
Josep Maria Cornell.
The domestic market absorbs
80 per cent of the
company’s total sales. The
remaining 20 per cent are
for exports, in the first
place to Eastern European
countries and the United
Kingdom. It is worth mentioning
that Girona Fruits’s
apples are labelled as coming
from the Protected
Geographical Indication
‘Poma de Girona’, which
gives these fruits a distinctive
feature.
their about 1,100 hectares of
cultivated area.
As to varieties, Golden is
the number one for Giropoma’s
business figures and
accounts for some 15,000
tons, followed by Gala with
approximately 23.7 per cent
of the total volume, Rojas (13
per cent), Pink Lady (11 per
cent), Granny Smith (nine
per cent), and Fuji (five per
cent). Finally, the remaining
eight per cent are accounted
for by several additional va-
Last season,
3,300 tons of
apples
The El Bierzo region
stretches over approximately
3,000 square kilometers
which is 18.7 per
cent of the total area of
the province of León. As to
altitude, 44.88 per cent of
the region’s total area are
below 750 meters above
sea level.
The last season, 3,300 tons
of apples were picked within
area belonging to the
Protected Designation of
Origin “Manzana Reineta
del Bierzo” and the fruits
were sold on the principal
markets within Spain: the
Basque Country, Galicia,
Madrid, Cantabria, the
Canaries, and Andalusia,
with these last being in a
period of growth.
For the “Marca de Garantía
rieties. 70 per cent of the
total volume are sold on the
domestic market while the
remaining 30 per cent are
exported, the biggest part
within the EU: to the UK,
France, Portugal, Belgium, to
name just the major destinations.
But the company has
also gained a foothold in two
strategically significant places
outside Europe, namely
in the Arab Emirates and in
Central America.
Pera Conferencia del Bierzo”
(Guaranty brand
Conference Pears from
El Bierzo”), the upward
tendency of the last three
years continues; volumes
have risen to 10,500 tons,
which is 23.8 per cent. Says
Mr. Pablo Linares, Chief
Agronomist at the P.D.O.,
‘Apples are making way
for pears, in the first place
because growers feel more
confident and comfortable
about pears for presenting
less pest and disease-related
problems and obtaining
better prices’.
The picking season for this
fruit starts at the end of
August and stretches over
the entire month of September.
Increase of 40,000 tons
of apples predicted
Alex Creixell.

Domingo López, Managing Director at Granada Coating.
Struggling for
leadership in the
seeds coating
business
Coating seeds means converting
naked seeds into
uniform coated ones permitting
steadier and more
accurate sowing. At the
same time, it is possible
to provide protection adding
fungicides or insecticides
which reduces the
necessity for application of
ecologically harmful pesticides
during the crop cycle
and makes crops more
resistant to external pathogens.
Making crops more homogeneous
prevents losses in
yields that way increasing
revenues.
Thanks to their efforts in
the field of investigation
and research, the company
Granada Coating is in the
vanguard of this branch.
‘Our company has specialized
in horticultural seeds
as lettuce, endive, chicory,
fennel, parsley, carrots,
onions, leek, celery, tomatoes,
peppers, cucumbers,
sweet and watermelons,
pumpkins, eggplants, cabbages,
apart from other
crops as tobacco, medicinal
and ornamental
plants, shrubs and trees”,
Mr. Domingo López,
Managing Director at Granada
Coating, explains.
The range of different
calibres covers the whole
spectrum from very small
diameters up to seeds of
more than 3,5 milímetros.
The application of
pregerminative treatments
makes it possible to minimize
physiological differences
between the seeds
of one lot which is how
the seeds become vigorous
and resistant and all seeds’
moment of germination is
optimally synchronized.
The group of companies
BLGG, dedicated to the
business of the agro-alimentary
analytical laboratories,
finished the last
campaign with a invoicing
of 27 million Euros.
The group has a group of
250 workers and local offices
in Holland, Morocco,
Kenya, Belgium, Denmark,
Russia, Germany or Spain,
among other countries.
Sica AgriQ is the Spanish
company of the group,
located in Almería. This
laboratory, with quality
certificate QS, has become
one of the most important
for the Spanish fruit
and vegetable sector with
technical and commercial
delegates in the South and
East of Spain.
During the present campaign,
Sica has extended
its portfolio of work with
the business of the Spanish
citruses, after having
consolidated its position
in the segment of vegetables
in Almería and Murcia.
The following step is
to extend its activity in the
stone fruit.
I+D
The Laboratories
BLGG confirm
their plan
of expansion
The chairman of Sica AgriQ,
Antonio Belmonte,
has already announced
the development of different
projects to increase the
yield of the Almería operations
in collaboration with
different companies.
Today Sica AgriQ is the
laboratory that has done
most investments in technology.
Only in 2011 it
surpassed 500,000 Euros
and for 2012 it is preparing
new investments to tackle
other agro-alimentary segment.
Last 11 of January the
Food and Veterinary Office
- FVO- of the European
Union gave the approval
to the work of Sica
AgriQ. This organization is
the responsible to inspect
to the countries of the EU
that have a high level of
exports to the European
agro-alimentary product
markets.
The company has a professional
team specialized in
the service and relations
with the European chains
of supermarkets.
Antonio Belmonte is the manager of Sica AgriQ.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
65

66
Their companies produce 77 per
cent of the supply of Almería
the coexphaL
coMpanies
coMMerciaLized
More than 1.7
MiLLion tons.
toMatoes,
cucuMbers
and peppers
are the Most
representative
products.
642.237
303.563
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Lobby
244.723
There are 62 companies in
Coexphal, the most important
lobby of the Spanish
horticulture. Their companies
commercialized more
than 1.7 million tons of
fruits, vegetables and citruses,
which meant an increase
of seven per cent respecting
the last campaign but with
smaller profitability.
The commerce of the companies
of Coexphal is focused
on vegetables because they
are located in the province
of Almería, the place of Europe
with the highest surface
of greenhouses-25,000 hectares.
The tomato is the product
of reference when reaching
642,000 tons and with
a tendency to increase, from
2009-2010 it commercialized
570,745 tons. Both the Spanish
market and the international
responded positively
to the increasing tendency
of the tomato. The tomato
of Almería has grown more
in the international market
than in the domestic market
in the last three years.
Pepper and cucumber. The
pepper of Almería is returning
to its place in the international
markets. Only the
companies of Coexphal exported
157,000 tons opposite
to 147,000 tons of the last
campaign. From the beginning
of the biological control,
the pepper of Almería
keeps on increasing share
of market in the important
markets like Switzerland and
Norway, and decreasing in
172.150
Tomato
Pepper
Cucumber
Watermelon
volumE by cATEgorIEs
compAnIEs of coExphAl (2010-2011)
(Tns). Source: Coexphal.
98.000
Courgette
89.400
Aubergine
“commodity” markets like
the German one.
The companies of Coexphal
commercialized more than
303,000 tons, of which 48
per cent was for the Spanish
market. The introduction of
auctions in Coexphal has increased
the presence of the
Spanish market in the figures.
The cucumber is another one
of the products of reference
of the companies of Coexphal.
Their volumes reached
244,000 tons, five per cent
more than in the previous
campaign. It is another one
of the products that is keeping
an increasing tendency.
And it is that from the campaign
2008-2009 the commercialization
has increased
21 per cent.
Destinations. The markets
have not undergone special
changes, although the companies
of Coexphal begin to
look more at destinations of
77.965
Lettuce
Others
8%
Spain
49%
69.135
Melon
Germany
14%
24.033
Citrus
France
7%
value in damage of the traditional
markets.
However, Germany keeps on
being the first international
destination with a share of
market of 14 per cent, standing
out the commerce of the
cucumber with a share of
market of 25 per cent. The
watermelon is the other
product of reference for the
German market with a share
of 18 per cent. The figures of
the rest of products are less
than 12 per cent.
France, Holland and the
United Kingdom are markets
with a share of market
of around seven per cent. The
exports to Holland have increased
in the last year as a
result of the rise of the supply.
Poland has already reached
three per cent and the Italian
market has decreased until
two per cent. Spain is the
most important market for
the companies of Coexphal
with 49 per cent of the commercialized
volumes.
14.625
Cherry tomato
Nederland
7%
Italy
2%
Poland
3%
UK
6%
Nordic
4%
mArkETs compAny
coExphAl (2010-2011)
Source: Coexphal.
6.078 20.089
Green bean
Others

`We care, you enjoy’
will begin in February
The campaign of advertisement
and promotion of the
Spanish and European vegetables,
managed from Hortyfruta
and Proexport and
co-financed by the European
Union, will be launched in
February in Germany and,
later, Austria and the United
Kingdom.
The campaign has three million
Euros to use during the
next three years and will be
direct promotion in supermarkets,
advertising, signs,
etc.
The objective of the campaign
is to reach “650 million
impacts”, María José Pardo,
manager of Hortyfruta,
explains. The distribution is
thought for the message to be
spread by press offices, social
networks - Facebook, Twitter,…
-.
In the United Kingdom,
the actions will be done in
hospitals and outpatients’
departments with 500,000
pamphlets in a period of two
months.
The image of the campaign
will be the actress Esther
Schweins, “well-known in
Germany and Austria to participate
in different advertisement
like the one of Bacardi
and in several successful
films”, Pardo Losilla assured.
During the first year, 75 per
cent of the budget will be for
Germany and 25 per cent remaining
for the United Kingdom
and Austria. In the last
year the investment will be
higher in the United Kingdom
and Austria and less
in Germany.
buDgET
‘wE cArE, you Enjoy’
Source: Hortyfruta.
Esther
Schweins is
the image of
“We Care, You
Enjoy”.
Prescriber
12,0%
Advertising
17,0%
Lobby
Press
24,0%
Promotions
27,0%
On Line
4,0%
Sponsor + Newspaper
16,0%
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
67

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
68
Category
Fruchthof Northeim, a visit to one
of Cobana Fruchtring’s 27 affiliates
fruchthof is a
regionaL whoLesaLer
that has
begun to work
with suppLiers
froM spain directLy.
it turnover:
100 MiLLion
euros.
Facilities Fruchthof
Northeim in Northeim
(Germany).
By Uwe Schwießelmann
uwe@fyh.es
“Our yearly turnover is about
100 million euros”, says Nils
Hasenbeck, of the company’s
management, after welcoming
us to the Fruchthof’s facilities
in Northeim.
“About 200 persons work
in our different business
branches; our own fleet of
trucks consists of 50 vehicles”,
affirm Hasenbeck. It
is hard not to note a certain
pride in his declarations and
when we ask for the companies
business relations with
Cobana, he is quick at mentioning
that his father was
one of the cofounders of that
purchasing pool.
“But what we do via Cobana
is limited to overseas products
which stand for some 20
per cent of our sales, bananas
in the first place. The European
sourcing is our own business”.
Nils Hasenbeck likes to
maintain close relationships
with his suppliers, especially
with the Spanish companies.
“For us, Spain is our most important
origin but, of course,
not the only one. We receive
produce from about 50 suppliers,
among them Spanish,
French, Italian, Morrocan
companies, among other origins,
and with half of them,
we got rather stable business
relations which is something
we are very interested
in because it facilitates direct
operations without any
intermediary in between”,
comments Hasenbeck.
Strategy. Fruchthof Northeim
is an independent family
business, a wholesaler and
wholesale platform for fresh
produce. Among its customers,
there are big retail chains
and traders who work at the
big wholesale markets as well
as independent retailers and
operators of the Horeca sector.
At the Northeim branch,
the company also runs a C+C
market and banana ripening
facilities.
Do wholesalers depend on
working with the big chains?.
“It certainly can make it easier
to stand your ground in
as competitive a branch as
ours”, says the manager of
the company. “Our operations
with the retail chains
stand for about 50% of the
total turnover”.
Customers. Lidl is the most
important client of the retail
business. Except for bananas
that do not supply any
products to them. Lidl’s importer
is García Lax. In this
case, Fruchthof Northeim
is “just” a service provider:
“we receive a product, we do
the necessary handling and
packing and then we arrange
for distribution”.
To a company that moves important
volumes of Spanish
produce, how much damage
has that ‘E.coli year’ done?
“2011 was indeed a very complicated
year”, Hasenbeck
agrees. “A fall in volumes by
ten per cent may not sound
too dramatic but as prices
collapsed and did not even
recover when the official
warning against fresh fruit
consumption had been lifted,
we lost about 30 per cent
in turnover. All of us, growers
as well as traders, badly
need a much better year
2012, without any scandals
and with better prices”.
“On spot markets like Holland,
I think there is too
much speculating going on’
‘Which product has stood
out over the last years?. I
should think subtropicals
from Spain have been selling
pretty well...”, Hasenbeck
says. And so on and so forth.

Hall 26
C-03
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
69

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
70
Hall
11.2
B-11

Takes hold in
the cardboard
packaging
business
In Spain, corrugated cardboard
maintains a priviliged
role within the
branch of fruit and vegetables
packaging. It is not
for nothing that the 2010
production volume rose to
4.207 billion of square metres
which is equivalent to
4.6 per cent year-on-year
increase.
The best clients of those
who offer corrugated cardboard
come from within
the fruits and vegetables
sector, which is where 23
per cent of the sales, 967
million square metres, go.
For the Spanish Plaform
brand, Berlin offers an excellent
opportunity to present
the many advantages
of using their corrugated
cardboard boxes for fruits
and vegetables: quality,
cost-saving, compatibility,
hygiene, sustainability and
the power and the marketing
of a strong group
behind these products, to
name just a few.
Plaform is a compatible
system and was the first
Spanish brand to join
Common Footprint (CF),
a size-standardization system
that in Europe is promoted
by the European
Federation of Corrugated
Board Manufacturers
(FEFCO).
CF makes commercial
transactions between different
European and US-
American manufacturers
easier. Plaform’s trays already
bear the CF stamp,
created by FEFCO, which
means that the Plaform
Group takes the lead in
the task to establish this
standard whose Spanish
counterpart is the UNE
137005 norm.
Thanks to uniformizing
the exterior measures of
the boxes, it is possible to
package different fruits
and vegetables and stack
the trays assembling safe
mixed pallets sufficiently
high to use the full capacity
of trucks and packhouses.
Moreover, by making
all trays looking the same,
there is quite an impact
on the point of sale, too: it
becomes a more pleasant
sight with a stronger brand
image.
The Plaform brand is one
of the corrugated cardboard
sector’s references
in Europe and America. Its
quality stamp and its manufacturing
norms is what
sets its products apart from
other boxes used in agriculture
and have become a
model to try to equal both
in Spain and abroad. The
Plaform Group was founded
in 1986 currently consists
of 13 long-standing
companies associated with
AFCO, the Spanish National
Association of Corrugated
Cardboars Packaging
Manufacturers.
Packages
for berries
The new strategy of the
chains has caused changes
in the packing of the commercial
companies but it
has also shown a view of
opportunities for those
companies that are looking
for being different.
These companies look for
companies specialized in
specific and different solutions.
Ejido Cartón is one
of the companies specialized
in individualized solutions
to satisfy niches of
market.
The company, located in
Almeria, is specialized in
working sharp lines with
brand companies and special
products. The com-
Packing
pany has a line of products
for organic fruits and
vegetables “made of recycling
cardboard”, Gracián
Mateo, manager of Ejido
Cartón, explains. This line
has allowed it to enter in
several German chains.
The latest has been the
introduction of packages
for bilberries and raspberries
in the segment of berries
and soft fruit made in
flexo and Offset solutions
of compact cardboard.
At the moment Ejido
Cartón has a commercial
department which has allowed
it to extend its portfolio
of customers in Europe.
Packages for the berries of Ejido Cartón.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
71

72
The fourth edition of Fruit
Attraction will be held from
24 to 26 of October of 2012.
This fair is a commercial tool
of great potential for the fruit
and vegetable channel. The
organizers of the fair - Fepex
and IFEMA- emphasize that
in the 2011 edition there was
26 per cent more of exhibitors
and the number of exhibitors
was 561.
79 per cent was commercial
companies and producers
and 21 per cent was compa-
Fruit Logistica • February 2012 Events
Fruit Attraction, the five
reasons of the success
Raúl Calleja, manager of Fruit Attraction.
Fruit Attraction was visited by more than 26,000 professionals.
nies of the industry and services.
The Fruit Attraction received
26,492 professionals, 47 per
cent more. The international
presence increased 81 per
cent which proves the possibilities
of the fair.
One of the strong points of
the fair is the success of the
Programa de Compradores
Internacionales where 25 per
cent of the international professionals
went to Fruit Attraction
invited by the organ-
izers, after a selection done
by the exhibitors.
Fruit Attraction has become
a fair consolidated after three
editions. The objective of the
fourth edition “is to increase
the participation of South
American companies and to
reinforce the presence of the
Spanish producing zones”
Raúl Calleja, manager of
Fruit Attraction, assures.
Five reasons. Fruit Attraction
is a fair directed towards the
commercialization - the DNA
of Fruit Attraction-, where
the film stars are the producers.
“The aim of going to
Fruit Attraction is to multiply
the business opportunities”,
Calleja affirms. One of the
added values of Fruit Attraction
is its product diversity.
The fair is held in Madrid,
strategic city for the businesses.
Spain is the first producer-exporter
of fruits and
vegetables all over the world.
The IFEMA has “excellent
facilities and the capacity to
organize international fairs
of first kind”, Calleja assures.
The date of the celebration
of the fair - October is ideal,
since the international operators
can plan annual campaigns
of vegetables and is
time to “stand by” when the
campaign of the stone fruit
finishes.
The Fruit Attraction gathers
an ample agenda of professional
conferences, as well
as the organization of the
Semana de la Verdura and
Fruit Fusion, an event for the
Horeca channel.
In addition, Fruit Attraction
offers the capacity of real investment
in the project, since
“we will re-invest in each
participant company to guarantee
the achievement, the
optimization, the profitability
and the return of the done
investment”, from IFEMA explain.
2012 edition. For the 2012
edition, and with the collaboration
of the Cámara de
Comercio de Madrid the exhibitors
will be invited “to
show us which of their customers
or potentials customers
want to invite tp this”,
Calleja explains.
Countries like Brazil, Mexico,
Argentina, France, Italy, Portugal,….
have already trusted
in this edition of Fruit Attraction
In www.fruitattraction.ifema.es
they will have
the opportunity to know the
name the participant companies
and the good sensations
of the call of 2011 to them.

The IV edition of
Medfel will be
focused on tomato
The business of the Mediterranean
tomato will be held
24-26 of April in a new edition
of Medfel in the French
city of Perpignan. The organizers
have focused the schedule
and the selected VIP buyers
are the specialists of this
product.
The “Edition rouge” of this
year has favored the presence
of tomato producers of
France, Spain, Israel, Italy
and Morocco, reason why
“Medfel becomes an ideal
place to make contacts and to
know all the realities of the
producing companies of the
Mediterranean”, from Medfel
assure.
Some of the VIP buyers that
will go to Medfel this year
are: the person in charge of
purchases of Intermarché,
the person in charge of suppliers
of the Delhaize Bel-
Events
5,000 professionals were in Medfel during last edition.
gian group, the manager of
the Aeon Stores Hong Kong,
people in charge of Carrefour
Polska, as well as of the Polish
chain Piotr i Pawel, of Cora
and Carrefour Romania,
manager of the Monoprix
platform, people in charge of
the Carrefour French chains,
Casino, Biocoop, and other
professionals of the supply.
To see the VIP of 2011 you
can visit www.medfel.com.
The last edition of this fair
had 300 exhibitors and 5,000
professional visitors in an accessible
and easy to visit fair.
A new edition of Europech
will be held also in Medfel
this year, the forum of the
stone fruit, with professionals
of France, Italy, Spain and
Greece, as well as professional
of Cantaloup melon, because
the data of production
of this product are shown.
Fruit Logistica • February 2012
73

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
74
Crops
Blackjak, the novelty
by de Sipcam Iberia
The level of fertiliser application
registered a slight recovery
in Spain in the 2010/11
season as compared to the
previous season but the
overall consumption continues
to remain far below
levels of years past. Growers
do not apply more than the
quantities necessary to guarantee
the optimum amount
of nutrients the crops need
to perform well with regard
to yields given favourable
climatic conditions and to
make sure the soils maintain
an optimum fertility level.
The company Sipcam Iberia,
affiliated with Sipcam Inagra
Group, presents Blackjak as
their novel product for the
present season. This special
nutrient is based on an innovative
and totally natural
liquid leonardite (SC) containing
organic substances
decomposed to a high degree
and rapidly-to-absorb (humic,
fulvic, and ulmic acids,
humin and natural nutrients);
it may be underlined
that this is an acid medium.
Due to its low pH, Blackjak
interact with most pesticides
and fertilizers creating powerful
synergies. In addition,
it improves the roots’ capacity
to easier and more rapidly
absorb bigger quantities of
important micronutrients
and stimulates the radicular
and vegetative development.
Action. Blackjack also lowers
the pH of spraying liquids
that contain pesticides and/
or foliage fertilizers: when
the tank’s pH is alkaline, the
result is an acidification of
the liquid thereby improving
the pesticides’ efficacy and
facilitating a quicker absorption
of the foliar nutrients.
When applied to the soil,
Blackjak contributes to improving
the soil structure, to
reducing the level of salinity,
unblocking the absorption
of nutrients, stimulating the
microbial acticity and increasing
the cation-exchange
capacity of macronutrients
and micronutrients.
The new product also acts as
chelating agents for both microelements
and macroelements
which means that the
absorption of nutrients and
their subsequent translocation
within the plant are
stimulated.
‘Blackjak is an innovative
and different product for it
contains humin and ulmic
acids which are compounds
that stimulate and reinforce
the radicular, vegetative and
overall growth in the plants;
these compounds are not
contained in traditional humic
acid products that are on
the market and in the extraction
of which neither humin
nor ulmic acids are obtained’,
officials at Sipcam Iberia say.
To sum up, ‘Blackjak combines
a high efficiency, due
to the low dosage, with an excellent
user-friendliness, due
to the fact that, being a liquid
easy to dissolve in water, it it
easily and quickly dissolvable’,
informs the company.

Fruit Logistica • February 2012
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Fruit Logistica • February 2012
76