Morocco: Focus key for 300 hectare greenhouse grower Delassus

Delassus, the Moroccan grower and shipper behind the well known Duroc cherry tomatoes, started supplying citrus in the 1980's and though they've grown into a company that now deals in flowers, grapes and cherry tomatoes, their focus on a few products has served them well. That focus and exclusive attention to detail, according to Delassus' President, Kacim Bennani-Smires, has been their key to success.

“The idea for us has been to use our focus to be strong and professional,” said Bennani-Smires. “When it comes to tomatoes, everybody's thinking about it 24 hours a day.” They've been growing tomatoes year-round in greenhouses for five years now, and Bennani-Smires noted that, because they only focus on cherry tomatoes, the quality of their product has been very good.

The biggest part of Duroc's tomatoes are being grown for the UK market. "The customers in the United Kingdom require the highest quality and food safety levels," said Benanni-Smires." So that is one of the biggest drives for us to keep up with the latest growing techniques and certifications."

Aside from food safety and quality, innovation is also an important aspect for Duroc. "We have our own research and development department that work closely together with leading seed breeders to select the best varieties. This ensures that the crops we grow are custom fit to our companies philosophy and the customers requirements."

Delassus CEO Kacim Bennani-Smires at Fruit Logistica this year

“We do about 25,000 tons of cherry tomatoes a year on about 300 hectares,” he said. Those 300 hectares are spread out over 10 growing sites of 30 hectares each, with each plastic greenhouses that are established with modern hydroponic closed loop growing systems that recover the excess of water. This recovered water is reused after analyses. However, the set-up is only part of the growing equation, and Bennani-Smires heaped praise on the workforce whose singular focus remains growing top-quality tomatoes. "Everyday, over 3000 workers are spending a lot of attention to the production, without them we could never gain such high quality."

“Because we grow 12 months of the year, we are able to train and keep a steady labor supply,” he said. That means they can invest in their workers and retain that talent in order to secure good output. But, in the end, it ultimately goes back to what, according to Bennani-Smires, makes them a great company: their focus.

“We stay focused, and that's been our key,” he said. “We're one grower focused on one product that we do all year long, so we know what we're doing.”

For more information:
Fatiha Charrat
Delassus Group
Tel: +212 665 186 868
fatiha@delassus.com
www.delassus.com