The Borges agri-food group, owned by the Pont family, is preparing a new stage of growth with which it aspires to increase sales by 42% in five years, going from 701 million in turnover for the 2021-2022 financial year to more than one billion euros , as well as doubling results (27.5 million profit last year). To do this, it has drawn up an investment and purchase plan that would allow it to increase production capacity and save costs through improvements in energy efficiency and water consumption, David Prats, the company’s executive president and CEO, said on Wednesday.
Thus, they plan to allocate 108 million over the next three years to industrial assets (60% of the total investment), with an increase in plant capacity, installation of photovoltaic infrastructures, circular economy and technologies that optimize irrigation systems for reduce the consumption of a resource as scarce today as water. The remaining 40% will be invested in marketing and campaigns to reinforce the brand image and sales in its more than one hundred markets – 65% of its income comes from abroad.
The Tàrrega-based multinational is also studying various purchase options “provided they make sense”, Prats emphasizes, in Spain, France, Italy and Germany, and wants to expand its owned crop hectares (now it has around 2,000), as well as exceed 100,000 tons of products with its own brand (it sells seed oils, olive oil, nuts, vinegars, olives, pasta, sauces, pickles and flours and by-products). An expansion that they will finance with their own resources and the support of financial institutions, although they do not close the door on other formulas. In 2017, it took its dried fruit subsidiary (Bain) public and carried out a capital increase. “We have an open mind,” said the CEO.
The group faces this stage with a solid financial situation, Prats highlighted. It has managed to reduce its debt from 85 million euros to 74 million, while last year’s sales grew by 25% and profits by 8%, due to both price increases and sales volume. For the current year, which ends in May, Borges expects more moderate growth, mainly due to the significant increase in costs. “We have only transferred 50% of the increase to the final price,” they have assured.
It is also preparing its jump to Africa, where it already exports but is not fully established. The group sees great potential in the African continent and has the experience of India, which is already among its main foreign markets along with the United States, France and Brazil. Russia, which before stood out in the top five for sales, has lost relevance after the war – the company’s subsidiary is in the phase of extinction.
The multinational is also immersed in the celebration of its 125th anniversary, which it had to postpone due to the pandemic. Among the events, the inauguration on April 14 of its new institutional headquarters in Mas Colom, an old convent that the family acquired in the 50s of the last century and which had been in disuse, stands out. Borges has invested five million of its own resources in its restoration and conditioning as an interpretation and historical center.
