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St. Orsola improves long-distance logistics

BERRIES italy santa orsola

Santa Orsola has launched the campaign in March. The leading Italian forest fruit farming co-operative hopes this season will be better than last year’s, which had a later start, with unstable volumes, a saturated market and irregular prices.  The new business strategies for 2014 are to boost the international export share, encouraging penetration into China, Dubai and Eastern Europe.  “Getting into these new markets will create a balance in our exportable range. Previously, most of our blueberries were destined for domestic consumption in Italy, but for 2 years now we’ve been exporting to Russia, which now takes up 10% of our supply. The key to our success in Russia is that we have created excellent logistic solutions for transporting refrigerated cargo over long distances. And we hope to repeat this positive experience in other countries”, adds Director Matteo Bertolini. In addition, as the new feature for this year, he announced they will be launching a new packaging for blueberries in 65 g format instead of the traditional 125 g punnet.  

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Bionest renews BioDeliss brand image

BERRIES bionest

Bionest, organic strawberry production leaders in Andalusia, are giving their BioDeliss brand a new focus in the campaign for 2014. They are renewing the brand image, targeting a new market segment: the final consumer. “The BioDeliss brand has been out there for years, but it was aimed at wholesalers and retailers. The new marketing strategies we plan to develop will focus on the consumer, seeking out that naturist niche of people who go to the supermarket or local shops looking for organic products and appreciate the high value of our organic fruit”, states Thomas Cera. 

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Fresón de Palos – Spain’s best-known brand

freson de palos

Fresón de Palos has a leading share in large-scale distribution lines in Spain. Their high production volumes allow them to reach other major European markets with solid guarantees.  Fresón de Palos was recently chosen as the most well-known brand requested by Spanish consumers, according to surveys carried out on 19,000 real shoppers in 2013. “It’s an acknowledgement that reaffirms our commitment to doing things well”, says Jaime Záforas.  The sector in general exports more than 80%, whereas the figure for Fresón de Palos is usually less than 60% of its 72,000 tn. Countries receiving their fruit are mainly in Central Europe, such as Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Portugal, and to a lesser extent Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia, among others. Leading the way in Sustainable Strawberry Production, the company has a strict internal residue-free production protocol and Zerya® certification.

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Cuna de Platero presents new formats

BERRIES spain CUNAPLATERO, Juan Banez,

Meet all customer needs, supplying a strawberry of quality, in any format and with exquisite service. These are the main aims of the Cuna de Platero cooperative, Strawberry leading exporter to European markets, setting itself new challenges to overcome. And it is the strategy they continue to focus on, with a clear customer focus. This way, working with quality, reliability and sustainability, last season Cuna de Platero traded a total of 55.000 Tn, grown in  900 ha of plantations, with 90% in strawberries and the rest mainly in raspberries and blueberries, with a smaller portion of blackberry and peach.  The firm from Moguer, to meet the demands of supply chains and the European consumer, carries out exhaustive selection of fruit from field to store, choosing only those that meet the quality and food safety standards their customers want. This measure is making them a quality benchmark. Manager Juan Báñez emphasises: “Our aim is to be able to respond to any demand from our clients from our position as specialists, supplying them with the finest quality products and excellent service, improving upon what we’ve been doing so far, if such a thing is possible.” In addition, the cooperative is carrying out other actions, furnishing customers with the formats required and renewing their range of varieties, backing longer life and tastier fruits. 

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Grufesa implants 100% of Bayer Food Chain project

Grufesa is making a clear commitment to this model of sustainability, health and minimal environmental impact. Four years ago it began a pilot project with 15 acres and now there are 440 with clean, sustainable and environmentally friendly production. Last year, over 33% of its analyses showed zero residue. “100% of our crops follow a very ambitious project called Bayer Food Chain Partnership, which requires the highest standards in using conventional pesticides and biological products to control pests and disease,” says Carlos Cumbreras, Grufesa manager. In addition to this, Grufesa is involved in a project called NNTT Abiogrin, using natural microbiological constituents present in the soil to enhance the crop’s health and get more productive plants. Grufesa is clearly committed to innovating with varieties; they are carrying out interesting research projects of their own to provide greater value for their customers. With exports to 17 countries in Europe, Grufesa’s trend is to even up the percentages of shipments to each destination and open up new ones. The prospecting in Dubai and Panama has been an interesting experience and will be taken further. 

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CVVP guarantees Clemcott quality

The Protected Vegetable Varieties Club is overseeing the good management of the Nadorcott mandarin variety and its Clemcott certified quality brand, and of the early navel M7. Founded in 2008, the Valencia-based non-profit club (CVVP for its initials in Spanish) supervises the sub-licences for the Nadorcott and is in charge of developing, protecting and adding value to the Clemcott, including management of related intellectual property. Drawing on the know-how of its members, who are farmers and marketers from the sector, its objective is to advocate the proper supervision and handling of a product’s intellectual property. CVVP president Luis Trujillo said it is “focused on protecting and adding value to the protected varieties, which the members have invested in.” “The good management of a protected variety together with care and expertise in the field provides the market with quality products and, in this case, certified quality. That is why CVVP is considered a benchmark club of protected varieties in Spain, one that is recognised around the world.”

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Primaflor tapping growing demand for prepared salads

CONV primaflor

Spanish company Primaflor reports high retail demand for new products in its continually-expanding range of packaged fresh salad. The brightly-coloured 100g Capriccio, Delicious and Luxure bags “have increased sales both for us and for our clients,” it said. Capriccio blends red and green baby salad leaves, Delicious combines six kinds of tender shoots, and Luxure is a mix of lettuce, rocket and red baby leaf. Another launch proving popular is the lower-priced, bi-color Duo range of 70g baby leaf packs, one of which combines lambs lettuce and rocket leaves. Primaflor, which plants about 5,000ha with a wide range of vegetables and lettuce varieties, specialises in leaf products and strives to “adapt to consumers’ needs in terms of tastes, textures, formats and colors, always with a distinctive touch.”“Another important innovation is the launch of our ‘Delicias de Trocadero Rojo’, with tender Multileaf lettuce, meeting the growing demand for buttery, tasty leaves. We are constantly testing new mixes at our clients’ requests, particularly for the restaurant sector, and are already working on new prepared salad products for next season.”
MV

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Linea Verde in Europe and Russia

CONV lineaverde

La Linea Verde has penetrated beyond the European Union markets to enter those of Eastern Europe. “In 2013 we achieved good results in our international activities, particularly in Russia, Belgian and Poland. Exports made up 27% of the total turnover of the group, which reached €186 million in 2013. For 2014 we are again looking with interest beyond our country’s borders and aim to raise our turnover by 5%”, stated Massimo Bragotto, the commercial and logistics manager of La Linea Verde. This is a realistic objective, as La Linea Verde’s professionals have a profound knowledge of the sector and the Battagliola brothers have over 40 years of experience ‘in the field’. As a result, they have been able to capitalise, upgrade and develop the family’s traditional passion for agriculture, which is now leading them to co-pack the DimmidiSì products, not only to satisfy the home market demand but also, thanks to the firm’s considerable reefer transport and logistics know-how, to achieve recognition beyond the borders of Italy. La Linea Verde exports high-quality products to many countries, including Austria, Belgium, Spain and Russia. The firm’s achievements, nationally and internationally, are underpinned by investments in processes and organisation that achieve a high standard of quality. La Linea Verde uses technologies that give it a significant competitive advantage in terms of the freshness and food safety of a very delicate product such as fresh-cut salads. Quality is the key that has consolidated La Linea Verde’s position at the peak of the home market, enabled the firm to conquer and gain the loyalty of new markets such as Belgium and Poland, and will allow it to garner major new international successes while at the same time expanding its market in Italy.
MV

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Takii Seed soon celebrating 180 years and worldwide recognition

TOM TakiiSeed_team

After nearly 180 years in business, Takii Seed, which describes itself as the oldest seed company in the world, continues its obsession with quality. “It is a great opportunity for us to bring Japanese fresh products focused on taste into European culture because the first thing growers ask about in Europe is yield,” explained Erik Vesseur, sales and marketing manager for vegetables at Takii Seed Europe. Takii Seed’s main products are: brassicas, onions (short, medium, long, yellow and red), rootstock and tomatoes.  Proud of its local achievements, Takii Seed is well-known for its fresh produce in Japan, where 70% of the tomato and aubergine and 60% of the carrot varieties are bred by it. Takii’s global footprint is also impressive, with a presence in ten foreign locations. Takii´s expertise in breeding, production, sales and marketing are the ideal ingredients that have produced successful varieties such as Export Tomato “Takumi F1” (suitable for loose or truss harvest) and “TRF1098”. Both these vigorous varieties have been developed for winter production in the Mediterranean region (Spain and Morocco) and carry the benefit of resistance to TYLCV.  The firm has also introduced in Europe the well-known pink Japanese tomato, which delivers a delicious taste. And its Momotaro tomato variety combines its pink colour with its identity.  Takii’s mild-flavored brassicas with a sweet-peppery punch add a special touch to salads and have the advantage of being available year-round. Furthermore, the brassica varieties are specially adapted to processing by harvesting machines.  CV

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Biobest presents an innovative hive

TECH biobest Bart Sosef

“We are happy that there is more and more demand for crop bio-protection from the Middle East countries, South Asia and China,” said Kris Fivez, Sales Manager of Biobest company. “We see interest from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Georgia, too, while Europe and America are already our loyal clients, and people in other regions are also becoming more concerned about food safety and integrated production.” At Fruit Logistica Fair, Biobest presented one of its innovations, a special bumblebee hive. Its use allows an increase in the crop yield of various fruit trees, such as kiwi and pear trees. “The working principle of our new hive is the following: there is a special dispenser inside which pollen is stored; as it leave the hive, a bumblebee comes through the dispenser tray and takes pollen with it,” explained Herman Van Mellaert, director of business development. “Thus, fruit trees which have less pollination due to lower temperatures or rain will receive additional pollination, and the yield will be greater, the fruit size bigger.”
Biobest manufactures and sells products for biological pollination and pest control. With 25 years experience, it is a pioneer in biological crop protection sector. The company has opened subsidiaries in 10 countries around the world and Biobest exports its products to 55 countries, helping local farmers reach their economic and ecological goals. “We care about the preservation of local fauna”, Van Mellaert stressed. “If possible, we breed local species of bumblebees. This is done in Argentina and in some other countries too.”