The Spanish onion harvest came to a close in late October, and storage chambers are full and ready for the coming months. The season is underway with good prices for large sizes due to their lower supply this year, while prices for small onions are under pressure.
This is the current situation according to Álvaro Adrián, Sales Director of the Valencian company Constantino Adrián, which has achieved exponential growth in recent years and is aiming to become a major player with its commitment to automation and digitalization of all its processes.
© Constantino Adrián
Founded more than 70 years ago, this Valencian family company produces and markets onions all year round, mainly from Spain, although also from the Southern Hemisphere during the off-season.
"In Spain, our onions come from Valencia, Murcia, Almeria, Cordoba, Seville, and Castile-La Mancha, and for the last 12 to 15 years, we have also been supplying from Castile-Leon and Huesca. Over time, we have become specialists in the marketing of onions from northern Spain, where we have very loyal growers, and we obtain a volume totaling around 8 million kilos", says Álvaro Adrián.
"In the period during which Spanish onions are not as remarkable in terms of quality and are more difficult to preserve, we resort to imports, especially from Peru and Chile, with varieties similar in shape and color to Spanish onions. We also import to a lesser extent from other countries such as Senegal, South Africa, etc. Our aim is to always supply the best onions available at any given moment," he says.
Based in Sollana, Valencia, the company also has facilities in Albacete and Ciudad Real. Its production is 100% intended for supermarket chains, both in Spain and in other European countries.
"In Europe, we compete mainly with Dutch onions, which are very competitively priced due to their high mechanization and automation, although I believe that Spanish onions are unrivalled in terms of organoleptic properties and, above all, sizes," says Adrián.
Constantino Adrián's turnover has increased from 3 million euros eight years ago to 20 million euros last season, and 140 people are employed by the company at the peak of the season.
© Constantino Adrián
"We took a significant quantitative and qualitative leap forward when we started working with Mercadona, the most important supermarket chain in Spain. My brother Tino and I represent the third generation of this family business, and we have a very clear vision: the future of the onion sector lies in automation and digitalization. Those who don't invest in this will eventually cease to exist, as it's becoming increasingly difficult to obtain the necessary profit margins to cover the high production costs in a sector with problems in finding labor and with high levels of absenteeism, as well as other challenges, such as the lack of water or arable land," says Álvaro.
"Every year, we are investing a significant part of our profits in sorting machinery and in automating processes, both in the field and in the packing and storage facilities. In fact, next year we are planning to build a 3,000 square meter warehouse with state-of-the-art technology. To do this, it's important to be able to rely on a consolidated and loyal client portfolio."
"Our level of automation can't compare yet to that in the Netherlands, but we know that this is the way to go, and we are very enthusiastic and excited. We want to be a leader in the onion sector," says Álvaro Adrián.
For more information:
Álvaro Adrián Ferrando
Constantino Adrián. S.L.
Pol. Ind "Els Olivarons".
C/ Holanda, 2. 46430 Sollana, Valencia. Spain
Tel.: +34 961 742 730
Tel.: +34 667412 020
[email protected]
www.constantinoadrian.com
