José Maria Pascual, who as chairman of Pascual Hermanos became one of the most respected figures in the international fruit and vegetable industry far beyond the Spanish borders, has died at the age of 76.

Together with two of his four brothers, Vicente and Antonio - who are also deceased - José Maria initially established a citrus packing exporting business in Pego in the 1950s. The Pascual Hermanos empire was to became one of the largest in the industry.

It included a network of farms and packhouses that grew Iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and an ever widening range of other vegetables, and also eventually produced and packed grapes, kiwifruit and many more lines.

At it peak Pascual Hermanos had sales offices in the UK, France, Holland, Germany, Belgium and unusually at that time Czechoslovakia. Apart from its Spanish production capacity, there were farms in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil generating sales of more than £300 million annually at the group’s peak.

José Maria is recognised as seeing the trend towards serving UK multiples direct as far back as the mid-1960s and became closely linked with Marks & Spencer.

Apart from his passion for fresh produce he had a wide range of talents, including musical composition and film making

He retired in the early nineties when the group was sold to Chiquita. He leaves a widow and three sons, David, Fernando and José Maria.

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