Two years ago, the Escobar-Castañeda family, owners of the brands King Courgette and Queen Aubergine, decided to completely transform their business to include their farmers under a common project of transformation towards sustainability and digital transition.
Consequently, the company Berdea was created, and the company quickly started to grow in the number of specialized producers of courgettes and aubergines. The company has significantly increased its number of certified farmers in Global G.A.P., GRASP, and SPRING to sum a total of 150 hectares of production in Almería, becoming the most relevant specialized producer for courgettes in Europe.
“Our strategy was focused on creating an attractive company for young farmers that are willing to make a real impact in the farming sector to guarantee its environmental sustainability,” explains José Luis Escobar, Commercial Manager of these brands.
According to José Luis, the consumption of courgettes has grown significantly in recent years due to a better and broader availability. “In the last years, retailers increased care for quality and appearance for courgettes. Furthermore, courgette is very versatile in the kitchen and goes well on many dishes. Although it’s not considered a commodity, consumers include more and more courgettes in their diets. In the last campaigns, prices have been relatively high for courgettes and aubergines, so more clients have been searching for good quality products, and in this context, specialist growers like us have played an important role”.
“Although not many people know Berdea, our most recognized brands in the market, King Courgette and Queen Aubergine are well known for their premium quality standards and manual packaging procedures. And this is still a key point for these brands,” points out José Luis.
“There is no other way to ensure a fresh product with no scars, bounds, and other minor defects, taking into account how delicate courgettes and aubergines are compared to other products. We are a retail-orientated company, so we always keep in mind the final consumer. Our products have more rotation in the shop and more days of self-life because we can guarantee that every single piece has been checked by our packagers”, he adds.
“Today, Berdea has been recognized on several occasions as an example of digital transformation and sustainability in the farming sector, like the Spanish bank BBVA, to whom they have organized a national marketing campaign to encourage companies of the primary sector to transform their companies to adapt them to the new farming era. We are one of the first companies that have moved towards electrical mobility in the farming sector using only green energy supplies in our packaging stations”.
For more information:
BERDEA SAT
José Luis Escobar Jimenez (ES)
jlescobar@berdea.es
José Luis Escobar Castañeda (ENG)
jlec@berdea.es
Rocio Escobar Castañeda (FR)
rocioescobar@berdea.es
Pieter de Jong (Sales office in the Netherlands)
pieter@chainn.nl