The broccoli campaign is advancing in all the production areas of Spain, including the province of Zaragoza, which concentrates Aragon's broccoli production. Actiture grows organic brassicas on 680 hectares in the region of Almunia de Doña Godina. "We are currently very busy growing and harvesting broccoli. We have had a very difficult year because of the weather, especially because of the high temperatures, which have complicated summer crops and plantations," stated Juan Miguel Artazcoz, the director of the company. "Temperatures in the rest of Europe have also been higher than normal and the season of many vegetables, including broccoli, has been stretched out. That is why the season, which we at Actiture started on October 20, had a very slow start."
Sales are now back to normal, Juan Miguel stated. "In fact, we could even sell more than we have on hand. Demand is so high that we are shipping out twice as much product as we do in a normal week. However, that's usually the case at this time of the year."
"Currently, prices in the free market are high and very attractive. The prices in our programs are also acceptable; especially in the organic segment," the director of Actiture added. "The organic market is still limited and it is no longer growing as fast as it was growing. The increase in prices is noticeable."
Broccoli prices, in fact, have been experiencing an upward trend for several weeks, in parallel with the increase in marketed volumes and the adjustment of production due to the drop in temperatures. "Prices have increased but production costs have not stopped rising. It seems that prices have peaked, but the price of energy will determine if they start to fall or not, as it is the leading cause for the increase in all input costs," stated Juan Miguel.
“Working with the frozen food industry is a big advantage”
Broccoli consumption has been on the rise in recent years and the outlook remains very positive. "However, inflation has been on the rise so sales are no longer growing as in previous years. Despite this, we hope to resume the upward trend soon."
Juan Miguel (bottom left) with the Actiture team.
"Actiture exports 80-85% of its production, mainly to England, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. Consumption of organic products in Spain still hasn't really taken off," lamented the director of this company from Tudela, which started the process of converting part of its production to biodynamic agriculture to obtain Demeter certification. "The rest of the production is destined for the frozen food industry, which is very important in the area of Navarra."
“Working with the frozen food industry in this sector is very advantageous because it gives you security. We work with programs, with very large volumes, and sometimes we have an excess of production. Fortunately, we know that our broccoli will always have a way out via the frozen food industry."
For more information:
Actiture
Camino Caritat s/n
31500 Tudela, Navarra (España)
Tel.: +34 948 402 972
info@actiture.bio
https://actiture.bio