Spain: Tomates del Guadiana opens new processing facilities

The facilities of the company Tomates del Guadiana, located in the municipality Santa Amalia, have been refurbished and expanded after an investment of 7 million Euro, 3 million of which was part of Agro-industrial Incentives from Extremadura's Council of Agriculture.

The Councillor, José Antonio Echávarri, visited the factory and stated that, "after many years seeing how our tomatoes had to leave our region to be processed elsewhere, now we are the ones bringing them from Portugal and Andalusia to be processed here." With these words, Echávarri highlighted the changes for the region's tomato sector during the inauguration of Tomates del Guadiana's new facilities, which he presented as an example of modernisation and commitment.

Extremadura's Councillor of Agriculture insisted on how in a year such as this one, which has brought an 11% reduction in the acreage of tomato plantations, with a late campaign and the situation of financial crisis, "the tomato sector maintains prices at good levels and a company like Tomates del Guadiana keeps growing."

The Region's Government has supported the idea of offering financial aid to the Agro-industrial sector, which will materialise in the granting of 50 million Euro during the years 2013, 2014 and 2015. These funds, he insisted, must be used by the sector "to modernise its plantations and to continue improving the processing techniques for our products." In this sense, Tomates del Guadiana is a clear role model, after taking a leading position in the region's sector and doubling its income in barely two years, with export levels close to 80%. The Councillor was accompanied during his visit by the General Director of Agro-Industrial and Energy Incentives, Juan José Cardesa.