Spanish importer Luis Fernandez has retired after 52 years in the fresh produce industry.
At 68, Fernandez has enjoyed a varied career and is highly respected in the UK market, which has been his home since arriving from Spain aged eight.
Fernandez began his working life as a translator while studying at school in Southampton, and, aged 15, became the official interpreter on the Explorador Iradier - the first Spanish liner to dock at Southampton after the Spanish Civil War.
He switched to wholesaling in 1955 to join Burgess, Webb & Squire on Southampton market, followed by two years of importing hampers of Malaga potatoes, barrels of Almeria grapes and Canary Islands tomatoes.
Despite his packed schedule Fernandez still found time to indulge his other passion - ice hockey, playing professionally for the Southampton Vikings in the National League from 1956-1958. “We were paid up to £12 a game, when the market rate was only £3.50 a week,” he claimed.
In 1960 he settled in Kent with M&W Mack to head up its Spanish business and source English apples.
At the same time he became a member of the MRS Group - an avant-garde venture initiated by Mack, Reece and Saphir.
Fernandez was later appointed as managing director of newly formed Pascual Fruit Importers and spent the next 28 years witnessing vast transformations in the Spanish industry while the company’s annual turnover soared to £50 million.
“Then iceberg lettuce, broccoli, celery and green beans were virtually unknown, although today they are a main plank of the national export trade,” he said.
On retiring Fernadez said: “It is time to take a break, spend more time on the golf course and enjoy the rest of my life.”
