Planasa, a leading industry in the European fresh produce industry has just been recognized by the London Stock Exchange Group as one of '1,000 Companies to Inspire Europe'. The report, which aims at detecting all the companies that currently play a key role in Europe's job creation and economic growth, concluded that Planasa is one of the companies that has the biggest capacity to generate development.
"There are more than 23 million companies in Europe, so being among the most inspiring thousand companies is a real honor for us. We are a company that develops much of its activity in Europe, so its growth is very important to us. Hopefully we can continue contributing to Europe's development," said Alexandre Pierron-Darbonne, president of the Planasa Group.
This first edition of the '1,000 Companies to Inspire Europe' has been done by analyzing all the companies registered in the European Union that have a turnover between 20 million and 300 million euro and checking their evolution and growth potential. The paper wants to show that the SMEs are "the real engine and future of the European economy," said Xavier Rolet, CEO of the London Stock Exchange. Currently, the SMEs account for two thirds of employment in Europe and 60% of the economy's value, which demonstrates their enormous potential.
"Innovation is increasingly present in SMEs (the 1,000 companies listed in the report have 4,000 registered patents). I think that's what much of the future success of a company lies in. In Planasa we are very aware of this and try to apply it in all our areas to develop better products and better services. In fact, we invest 3 to 4% of our turnover in R & D," said Pierron-Darbonne.
Planasa has been working in the fruit and vegetable sector for more than 40 years through three business areas: nurseries, endive producers, and plant breeders. The company, which operates on five continents (as it has subsidiaries in France, Italy, Poland, Mexico, Chile, Morocco, and the United States) is a world leader in marketing endives and a leader in the production and improvement of products (varieties of strawberry, raspberry and blueberry), among other things.
Planasa has more than 1,200 employees throughout the year and in 2015 it achieved a turnover of 90 million euro.