La Unión, a few days after ending the 2022-23 campaign, indicated that it has managed to maintain its leadership position in the Spanish fruit and vegetable sector both in Spain and in Europe as a whole. The company from Almería, despite the difficulties of the current market, has increased its sales volume by 10% compared to the same period of the previous year. This progress is reflected in a sale of 340 million euros, compared to 306 million the previous year.
In terms of value, the average price has increased by 9%, which has made it possible to mitigate the sharp increase in costs which, according to industry sources, is around 25%. La Unión’s end-of-season data show “great robustness and are partly a direct consequence of the determined diversification strategy carried out in the last two years,” the company explained.
One of the most notable features of the company this year has been the expansion into new markets. La Unión has come to operate prominently in Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark, markets that represent around 2% of the company’s turnover.
The opening of these markets has meant marketing their products in the main local distribution chains. Another of the products that has had a lot to do with the positive results of the company has been the marketing effort of its Long Fresh line of frozen foods. The final turnover of Long Fresh in this campaign has been 1.37 million euros, which has allowed La Unión to be among the fastest growing companies in the frozen vegetables sector in just two years.
Likewise, taking into account the importance of continuing to offer food solutions that are better suited to customer demand, La Unión has managed to open a line of fresh-cut products that has been key to achieving significant penetration in a mature market such as is he Italian.
On the other hand, and responding to the diversification of products, the company has opted for the production of tropical products. Along these lines, La Unión gained control of the Granada company Taramay in 2021, which has meant progress in this segment. At present, the weight of tropical products in the whole production of La Unión is 2%.
If the forecasts come true, the company proposes a growth of around 60,000 tons in the next two campaigns. Objective for which it has developed a plan to recruit and retain farmers.
The Union stressed that it continues with its “policy of having an impact on its results throughout its entire value chain and, especially, among the farmer, the figure that is at the center of its policy of attention.”
He indicated that for this it is important to observe the average settlements earned by farmers, which have exceeded those of the previous year by 11%. The earnings for them have also exceeded the average emoluments registered in the sector, with a rise of between 9% and 23%.
By products, the great beneficiary has been the pepper with an average price of between 1.52 and 1.67 euros, which represents 13% and 24% more than the previous year, respectively. The tomato has also registered a notable increase, between 9% and 15% depending on the variety analysed.
“These data show an improvement in the farmer’s profitability, whose cost of production has increased by around 12% in the last year according to industry sources. In addition to the intrinsic benefit of marketing, the company has wanted to increase its relationship with the farmer”, he added.
For this reason, La Unión Agroservicios has been launched, a platform designed for the farmer where producers can obtain innovative products and services necessary to optimize and improve their production and their way of life. Currently, the insurance and financial services lines have already started and the company assures that it is expected to expand the portfolio to new products and services in the coming months.
