Just a few months after its 30th anniversary, La Unión, an Almeria company dedicated to the marketing of fruits and vegetables, has published its annual accounts for the year 2022, presenting growth of 8.4% in relation to the previous year.
As reported, in a year marked by uncertainty, inflation, the increase in energy and transport costs (with several strikes) and with the instability that the outbreak of the war in Ukraine has generated in all the European markets where it currently operates the company, La Unión has doubled its Ebitda in relation to the previous year.
“The data acquires more importance when verifying that the fruit and vegetable market in Spain has fallen by 3.5% in terms of value and 9.5% in volume, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture,” he added.
As he highlighted, its growth in value reaches 6.1% and in volume it grows by 14.5%, so the difference with respect to the market is more than nine points in value and 24% in volume.
He indicated that another of the challenges that had to be “overcome” during the year 2022 has been “the increase in costs associated with the different increases in the minimum interprofessional wage, SMI, decreed by the government and that have involved more than one million euros of increase in salary costs that were not contemplated at the beginning of the course”.
He also pointed out that the company’s salary mass grew by around one million euros and reached 1,500 direct jobs, 10% more than in the previous year. The company also has 3,500 farmers linked to its project and generates indirect employment in the province that benefits 35,000 people.
“The year 2022 has also served to consolidate the company and continue with its growth strategy in the different European markets where it did not have a significant presence to date. In this sense, the leading distribution companies in the markets of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark or Italy have become new customers this past year, joining the already consolidated markets of Central Europe and Spain”, he added. .
In addition, he maintains that “diversification, the launch of new brands and products of differentiated quality to the market, innovation as a hallmark and the commitment to food safety are other key elements that continue to be essential for the current direction of the company. company, which has also made an enormous effort during the year 22 in the transformation, modernization and adaptation of all the management systems and management teams of the company to continue preparing it for the coming years”.
