Spanish tomato cooperative CASI has announced that it finished its 2010 campaign with a positive sales balance of €1.6m, compared with a loss of €1.7m a year before.
The achievement, which was made public at the Almerian group’s annual general meeting held earlier this week at its headquarters in La Cañada in the southern province, has been hailed as a “Godsend” by sections of the Spanish press, coming as it has in the midst of a major economic downturn in the country.
In a statement, the cooperative said that its president, José María Andújar, had told some 959 member growers, out of a total membership of 1,400, that the figures demonstrated “a clear improvement” in CASI’s fortunes.
Mr Andújar said the positive result had been achieved following the adoption of a new management model that had focused production on three key tomato varieties and promoted the CASI brand, while also implementing cost saving measures.
He added that CASI, which has an annual turnover estimated at €193m, had also benefited from improved prices during 2010 for tomatoes, the product that accounts for 95 per cent of the cooperative’s production.
