Planasa, a European leader in the fruit and vegetable sector, has been recognised for the second consecutive year by the London Stock Exchange Group (owner of the London Stock Exchange) as one of "A thousand companies to inspire Europe". The report aims to serve as recognition to companies that bill between 20 and 300 million Euro and which stand out for their ability to generate employment and maintain steady growth in recent years.
In this second edition of the report, the London Stock Exchange has once again highlighted Planasa's excellent track record in recent years, during which it has grown steadily both in terms of turnover and in the number of workers. Planasa, which operates on five continents, has been singled out by the London Stock Exchange as a company of choice for potential investors.
"While we were already proud to join this list last year, doing so for the second consecutive year confirms that we are on the right track, and that this was no accident. We are an international company, but a large share of our business obviously corresponds to Europe. We aim to continue moving towards our goal, which is none other than the improvement of tomorrow's food sector," affirms Alexandre Pierron-Darbonne, president of the Planasa Group.
The 2017 document reveals, once again, the enormous importance of SMEs in the continent, which account for two-thirds of total employment and around 60% of the value of the economy. "Our value comes from our direct approach to bringing welfare to society and innovating to achieve it. At Planasa, we invest around 4% of our annual turnover to continue offering better products and services," assures Pierron-Darbonne.
This modus operandi has allowed Planasa to become one of the ten Spanish companies that have been included more than once in the report. The 2017 document features a total of 70 Spanish companies, compared to 75 last year. The food and beverage sector continues to be the most prominent.
Planasa has been working in the fruit and vegetable sector for more than 40 years through three business areas: varietal innovation (with berries, fruit and horticultural programs), supply of plant material to producers, and agro-food (production and marketing of fresh produce). The company is currently a world leader in the marketing of endives and in product improvement (for strawberry, raspberry and blueberry varieties).
In 2016, Planasa had over 2,080 direct employees and a turnover of 106.1 million Euro.