Anecoop has posted its best ever results for 2012/13. Sales rose by 16.7 per cent to €593.4m, while volumes increased by 9 per cent to 736,601 tonnes. The group said it had achieved a significant increase in prices over the course of the year and improved profitability for its members.
With the exception of strawberries, which were hampered by poor weather, fruit lines performed well across the board. Citrus sales climbed 9 per cent to 380.000 tonnes, representing a 12 per cent increase in sales value. Sales of kakis, marketed under Anecoop’s exclusive Persimon brand, grew by 20 per cent in volume terms. In vegetables, meanwhile, sales were up by 8 per cent in volume terms and 17.3 per cent in value, thanks to a strong demand caused by production delays in other Euorpean countries.
The group’s president, Juan Safont, said the strong results were testament to the commitment of all its cooperative members.
“Anecoop has not only demonstrated its resilience to the economic crisis, but also demonstrated that it can go on growing dynamically,’ he said at the group’s general assembly in Valencia on Thursday. “These results demonstrate that the agricultural cooperative model is one of the motors of the Spanish economy, having proven its ability to adapt to the challenging trading environ
Anecoop also announced its expansion plans for the coming year, which will include the opening of a new office in Lléida, northern Spain, later this year that will focus on strengthening the company’s stonefruit offer.
Joan Mir, the group’s director general, said he had high hopes that the latest phase of Anecoop’s integration plan for 2013-2018 to rationalise its producer base would bring further improvements in results in the future.
Anecoop is Spain’s biggest marketer of fruits and vegetables and the world’s leading citrus fruit exporter. It brings together 72 cooperatives exporting to 64 countries worldwide. Europe is its main market, accounting for 92 per cent of shipments, but in recent years the company has seen significant growth in eastern European markets such as Russia.
