Andalusian orange grower group Quality Distribution Fruits (QDF) has joined forces with the largest fruit and vegetable group in Almería, the Unica Group.
The collaboration between these two major groups brings them closer to achieving their business strategies by providing a wider product range and pooling commercial and production experience.
UNICA is formed from the union of five Andalusian co-operatives - Cabasc, Casur, Cohorsan, Ferva and Agrieco - while QDF is made up of growers from Alfonseca in Huelva, Cofrutex in Seville, Fratoma in Valencia, Fruilar in Lérida, Mercacolonia and Sunarán in Cordoba, Surinver in Alicante and Netfruit in Palma del Rio.
Both groups are set to benefit from commercial synergies in products, customers and market countries, as well as making joint purchases of shared resources with the objective of lowering costs.
This collaboration agreement will place the companies among some of the biggest groups in Europe in terms of product range, with a combined production of 450 million kilos, worth €220m (£189.2 million).
The group’s resulting product range includes oranges, clementines, pomelos, lemons and juices, as well as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, aubergines, courgettes, watermelons, melons, beans, nectarines, peaches, apricots, plums, strawberries, persimmons and lettuce hearts.
The project is open to the integration of other companies and co-operatives.
Jose Martínez Portero, president of the Unica Group, said: “This project is very important, seeing that we are the first group from Almería to jointly market products from other producing regions. We can’t just rest on what Almería produces, as although we are very important, we don’t have the whole range of produce.”
Enrique de los Ríos, director of Unica Group, added: “The commercial collaboration has already started and the first results indicate that there is a great synergy to be developed. Our philosophy is that we can do more with less with regards to the big areas of collaboration which are now opening up to us.”
Rafael Navarro, president and managing director of QDF, said: “With this alliance, we’re looking to make production more profitable for our growers. Belonging to a group that carries more products for a longer period of time and offers a better service makes us more attractive. It enables us to reach better agreements with our customers than if we were separate companies.”
