"Born in Abengibre, in the province of Albacete, he decided to settle down in Barcelona 35 years ago in order to start selling fruit and vegetables." With plenty of effort and dedication, sales started to increase and then the business went in a new direction, with a focus on the distribution to large customers, such as schools, restaurants, hospitals, supermarkets, etc.
This is carried out through our platform in Castelldefels, which is oriented to the Horeca channel and other large customers. We supply the most demanding customers door to door," explains Juan Mora, commercial director of Frutas y Verduras Antonio.
Subsequently, the business expanded with the acquisition of 2 sales points at Mercabarna (central wholesale market in Barcelona). Currently, Frutas y Verduras Antonio has 9 sales points in that market and has actually become the fifth largest wholesale company in Barcelona, with an annual turnover of around 70 million Euro. The company also has partners in Mercabarna, such as the Murcia-based firm Frutas Esther or the Almeria-based Agrupapulpi.
"The always friendly contact with the customers and the knowledge of their needs drove Mr Antonio López to embark on a more ambitious project: producing their own greenhouse green beans. We are now one of the largest producers and marketers of Perona green beans from Morocco. The Perona bean, a very short and flat variety, has traditionally been planted in Almería and Granada. Using the careful cultivation in small orchards of these provinces as an example, and given the conditions that this crop needs, it was decided to move their production to Morocco. That is where the production has been developed on a large scale, standardising all systems aimed at satisfying the needs of the most demanding customers," continues Juan Mora.
According to the commercial director, "this allows us to keep the average prices stable throughout the campaign, just like the greatest brand-oriented firms do with many products." Our green beans are already well known in Spain's main markets, as well as in Italy and France, where they are exported. We have been working with this product for many years and have built up a know-how that has allowed us to become one of the biggest suppliers in terms of volume and quality, and we have expanded the cultivation with other green bean varieties (Helda, Boby, Pinta...), strawberries and blueberries."
Frutas y Verduras Antonio also has a packing centre in El Ejido, Almeria, and has its own greenhouse production and agreements with other producers. The total volume of vegetables marketed amounts to around 10 million kilos. In Murcia, near Abarán, they have another warehouse where they produce and sell a number of citrus fruit varieties in winter (oranges, clementines, lemons...) and various stone fruits in the summer season (peaches, nectarines, Paraguayo peaches...).
"We also have a platform to sell the fruit on-line, Vivelafruta.com, where we promote healthy lifestyle habits by supplying our products to any interested individual or group (offices, large work centres etc)."
For more information:
Juan Mora
Grupo Fruta y Verduras Antonio
M:+34 649 44 19 57
T: +34 936645883
juanmora@frutasantonio.com
frutasantonio.com