Spanish company Lexportia Bio will have its own branch and transit warehouse in the Murcia region, Spain, from next month. “We are currently still located in Almería. By taking this step, our founders, Amalia Torres Carmona and Luis del Olmo Llanos, are trying to pick up the original idea of traditional and organic agriculture again. We are very concerned about current developments within the organic sector. Processes are increasingly industrialised and automated. Our goal is to bring these back to traditional values,” says Nils Angelike from the commercial department of the company and our Dutch contact.
Back to basics
“Organic, sustainable agriculture has unfortunately changed significantly in recent years. We need to make sure that the basics, the essence, are not completely lost. The trade of organic products has become ‘colder’ in general. Focus is apparently more and more on cheap products and other external evaluation criteria.” Lexportia is currently analysing, with producers and buyers, which products could be interesting for the coming spring, both for the local and the European market.
Organically biodegradable, no plastic
Lexportia Bio cooperates with various cultivators from Murcia. “We are still analysing which products are in demand, but for the coming season, we mostly want to provide products such as broccoli, cauliflower and celery. All vegetables are cultivated outdoors. We want to move away a bit from organic vegetables from plastic greenhouses, it just does not really suit the organic philosophy.” The basic idea of ‘organic’ should be reflected in the new biodegradable packaging. “We think it is a bit strange that more and more foil and plastic are used as fruit and vegetable packaging; we think that goes against the ideal of organic products,” says Amalia.
Many small cultivators
Lexportia Bio works with independent cultivators who do not belong to a permanent union or organisation, and who, like us, believe in a traditional way of agriculture. Together, we will combine forces and in this manner we will open a new distribution channel. Lexportia is supported in its project by sustainable bank Triodos. It concerns many small cultivators who would have no other opportunities to commercialise their products through cooperatives. Those often have relatively high costs and non-recoverable preconditions such as, for example, a minimum of agrarian soil and certain contributions.
Crooked fruits and vegetables
The ethical aspect is very important in the daily work of Lexportia Bio, in any case. For example, this year, the young company found a distribution channel for crooked fruits and vegetables in Germany. “We want our products to fetch a fair price, they are the origin of the entire chain. Without the cultivators, we would ultimately have no products on the shelves. Transparency during the entire process is therefore of great importance to us.”For more information:
Contacts Sales department:
Amalia Torres Carmona
+34-603 45 19 19
torres.amalia@lexportia.com
Nils Angelike
+34 661 25 64 63
nils@lexportia.com
Contact Purchasing / Quality:
Luis del Olmo Llanos
+34 670 65 79 93
delolmo.luis@lexportia.com
Contact Administration:
+34 950 10 64 17
administracion@lexportia.com