BioValle Naranjas Ecológicas was founded four years ago thanks to the perseverance of Juan Salamanca, a convinced environmentalist and biologist, who pressed upon his brother César for more than a decade to persuade him to switch from conventional to "green" agriculture. César managed a few family-owned hectares of oranges and was not fully sure, since at first the change would entail a huge sacrifice. "You have to work for three whole years without applying conventional treatments and following an organic system, but unable to sell those oranges as organic, as a result of which there is a decline in the production and increased spending. This first step is very hard," he points out.
For the business to be profitable, they would have to sell their harvest themselves. "We are our own traders. We call stores and greengrocers in Spain offering our products," explains Juan.
BioValle also supplies green consumer cooperatives in Cordoba and Seville, as well as in the Flemish part of Belgium: Antwerp, Ghent and Leuven, and they are increasingly committed to this expansion abroad.
Expansion
Its flagship product from the beginning has been the Cadenera, an autochthonous variety of Palma del Río. The juice of this orange has a different colour and a characteristic flavour. It is not a very famous variety in foreign markets, but it is gradually gaining ground in them. Juan believes that we should not mix value and price: "In Palma del Rio, we have an excellent product; we are still paid little for it, but the value is still there."
By its own right, the firm is becoming an ambassador of this orange variety, which is one of the hallmarks of this town of La Vega, as well as a part of the traditional landscape. The Cadenera is currently in danger of disappearing because conventional agriculture considers it an unprofitable variety.
Source: sevilla.abc.es
