Unica Group became Spain’s biggest vegetable exporter for the second year running last season. A study by Spanish magazine Alimarket said the Almeria-based cooperative sold 230,000 tonnes of produce in 2014/15.
With the incorporation of new members Parafruts and Agrolevante, the group’s sales volume is expected to reach 260,000 tonnes in 2015/16.
According to Unica’s president José Martínez Portero, “the key to the company’s exponential growth is that from the very beginning the strategy has been to ensure that the management of all its associated cooperatives are involved in its management, operating in a totally transparent manner, within a structure that allows us to keep our costs low and be operationally efficient”.
Unica Group comprises nine cooperatives in Almeria, Granada and Murcia employing more than 2,800 workers and 1,750 growers who between them cover 2,000ha of greenhouse production and 700ha of open-air production. The group’s annual sales exceed €235m, with Germany, the UK, France, Denmark, Austria and Poland among its main export markets.
Tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are the main vegetables it produces, accounting for 80,000 tonnes, 40,000 tonnes and 40,000 tonnes respectively.
The companies that make up the group are: Cabasc, Casur, Cohorsan, Cota 120, El Grupo, Ferva, Parque Natural, Agrolevante and Parafruts.
