Spanish fresh produce cooperative Unica and Netherlands-based fruit and vegetable group ZON Coöperatie have confirmed they are investigating the possibility of working together commercially, following a fortnight of speculation.
As reported by Fruitnet.com in early July, Unica Group has been in talks with the Dutch cooperative for some time, with a view to making it the first company outside Spain to be incorporated into its business.
It is understood that the Venlo-based firm will eventually become part of the Almerían group of companies, although this has not yet been confirmed.
In a joint statement, Unica and ZON said the main aim of the new cooperation agreement was to improve the companies' economic stability, enabling them to offer an improved service to their growers as well as to customers.
Both organisations are active in the sales and marketing of fruit and vegetables on behalf of their affiliated growers, and supply direct from the grower to the customer.
'ZON and Unica expect to improve their service to common customers by offering a wider product portfolio, a year-round supply, and an easy seasonal shifting between Spanish and Dutch seasons during spring and autumn,' the groups stated.
'We think that this Dutch-Spanish cooperation can make it possible to offer a more complete range of products to customers in the fruit and vegetable markets,' commented Frans Van Dijck, managing director of ZON.
'Working together means we can help our customers to become more competitive, and also we can improve the added value for our growers,' added Enrique de los Ríos, general manager of Unica.
Unica, with around 900 affiliated growers, has an annual turnover of €139m, while ZON, with some 400 growers, boasts an annual turnover of €261m.
The organisations have a number of products in common, including tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, asparagus, lettuce, aubergines, courgettes, melon, berries and watermelons.
The agreement remains subject to approval by the Dutch and Spanish Competition Authorities, with both companies insisting that any possible cooperation between Unica and ZON would be organised in full compliance with the requirements of competition law.
Plans for a proposed merger between one of Holland's leading fruit suppliers, Fruitmasters, and ZON were abandoned at the start of June following months of intensive talks aimed at exploring the possibility of combining the two companies or at least increasing cooperation between them.
