"The Spanish fresh-cut market is not growing in general, but it is for us. We are expecting to close this year with a turnover of €20 million. We are growing quickly in Spain and new products are getting more popular," explains Andrea Battagliola, general manager of the Spanish branch of La Linea Verde.
Andrea Battagliola together with his father Giuseppe.
In addition to lamb's lettuce, Spanish demand is also "discovering" new products such as mixed-leaf salad and rocket. "The baby-leaf sector is drawn by the H&R sector and is now pushing the rest of the market. We are now supplying different retailers after starting with a single platform in Catalonia."
The mixed salad with corn, olives and cherry tomatoes packaged in 400 gram trays (photo below) is also proving quite successful and, despite the fact that is was studied specifically for hypermarkets, it is rather popular in supermarkets too.
High standards
La Linea Verde has been available is Spain since 2008 and even has its own production site in Navarra, where it also packages ready-to-eat salads for private labels. "Growth is between 3 and 7% and results are excellent in discount stores too."
The Spanish cultivating facility has been growing following sales: "we started with only 5 ha and now we have 15 and are planning to expand some more."
La Linea Verde-Dimmidisì stand at Fruit Attraction 2014.
In Spain, the shelf-life of ready-to-eat products is 8-9 days, so an effective production cycle is crucial. "We immediately made a difference on the fresh-cut market both from an agronomical and processing point of view."