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.
Berries
Cuna de Platero with more sustainable approaches
Quality, strength, stability, reliability, sustainability and environmental care are the values that have characterised the largest Berry Cooperative located in Moguer, Spain, for a quarter of a century. Last season, Cuna de Platero SCA traded a total of 55,000 tons from a 900 ha cultivated area with 90% in strawberry and the rest mainly in raspberry and blueberry, with a lower portion of blackberry and peach. Their main distribution channels are supermarket chains, although they also work with wholesalers. “Our company philosophy consists of always supplying high quality fruit with great flavour and a distinctive format. We have evolved into a specialist operation responding to multiple requests, assessing the needs of each customer in line with their specific demands for varieties and formats”, says General Manager Juan Báñez. Along with this, he confirms that the company is increasingly more oriented towards production of fruits differentiated by their concern for consumer health and environmental sustainability, ensuring the success and consolidation of Moguer Cuna de Platero SCA. They are currently implementing the ‘Zero Residues’ project, responding to the technical reality of sustainable production without pesticide residues. In this process the fruits receive no specific treatment during growth and ripening, so remain free of chemical products. “In the globalised world we live in, demand is becoming more and more specialised. So we try to respond to each demand. We make a concerted effort to achieve high quality fruits and a standard packaging that takes into account the specific needs of each market. We also take steps to ensure proper management of cooling and transport so that the fruit reaches the end customer in perfect condition”, explains Báñez. Subsequently, we have gradually included internal protocols that ensure stringent food safety management, phytosanitary checks, regulations and certified production quality, traceability, social policy, equality standards and many more factors that guarantee delivery in optimum conditions.
El Pinar launches 3 new strawberry varieties
Vivero El Pinar, a Segovian company specialising in introducing new varieties of strawberries to the market, is now well into the development phase of three new varieties bound to appeal to farmers in southern Europe and North Africa. On one hand – available only to Surexport and SanLucar Fruit in Spain, Portugal and Morocco – we have the BG4316-Victory: “An early variety, highly productive in with very good post harvest features”, explains Manager Mario Esteban. It is already being grown commercially and “with very good results, both for farmers and the markets, where it has been catalogued from the outset as high quality fruit according to their standards”, adds Mario.
In addition, they have the BG4315-Liberty, an early mid-season variety. This cultivar is characterised by its medium size, good flavour and Brix degree, as well as its conical shape and light red colouring. “This is its first trading season, while it is also being tried out with good results from farmers in several countries”, continues Mario. The El Pinar spokesman adds that it has been very well received in supermarkets. The third variety is BG4352, still in the research phase. It is a very early variety, large sized fruit with a pleasing colour and good Brix level.
Splendor is the most well-known variety from El Pinar and the most widely planted in Spain, accounting for roughly 40% of strawberry crops. This season they have gone from 180 million plants to 200 million, 13% more than the previous campaign. The firm’s presence is also growing in countries such as Italy, Greece and Morocco.
El Pinar continues to work towards main objective: to find the variety that best suits the farmer’s conditions. MP
Grufesa implements Food Safety Control Chain in all their acres
100% of the 440 hectares Grufesa has given over to strawberry plantations this campaign come under the Bayer Crop Science Food Chain Partnership project. The Moguer cooperative signed up to the initiative two years ago with a view to assuring the end consumer a product of unique quality that is safe, healthy and sustainable. Thanks to this monitoring system, Grufesa will meet the highest requirements for pest and disease control in crops, which means even more natural fruit from the consumer. Food Chain Partnership applies a series of directives in the plantations designed to control pests and diseases, which enables Grufesa not only to remain below the legally stipulated Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs), but also to fully comply with the most stringent standards set by European large-scale distribution. To this end, technicians from Bayer Crop Science, along with Grufesa’s Technical department, have developed a crop protection programme based on the introduction of new control guidelines to help choose the right products to ensure good, healthy crops from among the several active ingredients and zero residue treatments available on the market. As Grufesa Manager Carlos Cumbreras explains, Food Chain Partnership is “one of the programmes that come closest to a totally natural production process, and so meets one of the main demands of clients at practically all destinations, benefiting all stakeholders in the chain, including the environment.” This programme is the nearest you can get to a fully biological production. As Grufesa will demonstrate during their participation at the next Fruit Logistica expo – they will be located in Hall 18, stand A- 02G – this programme is a differentiating element against competitors mainly from other points of origin.