Last week, Fruveco's brought their new cold storage warehouse into use. By doing so, the Spanish frozen foods specialist, which is located in Murcia, increased its capacity with 13 000 m2. They can now process 65 000 pallets, or 800 000 tonnes, of product annually. This also means their storage facilities have quadrupled in size. This is a sign of bigger things to come: two more warehouses of the same size are planned for the next few years. "We have grown at a rapid pace. Our turnover has tripled in the last seven years", says Sales Manager, Rens Vermue. "The demand for organic frozen foods, in particular, has increased dramatically." This investment cost in the region of EUR 20 million.
Self-managed chain
"Fruveco's strength is that we grow and process almost everything ourselves", says Rens. "About 95% of our product is grown in Spain. We import the remainder." Fruveco cannot complain about sales. "We often sell in advance what we grow. We cannot keep up with the demand for organic produce. Not just organic greenhouse vegetables, but also organic full ground vegetable cultivation is expanding rapidly. When it comes to broccoli, cauliflower and other vegetables, the question is not whether we find buyers, but rather if we have enough changeover products. We are fully engaged in getting our own growers to transition." Of the total production, almost 99% is destined for export. The Spanish, just like the Dutch, prefer fresh produce.
Fully automated
The new complex is fully automated. There are just two people working there. Rens: "Loading and unloading is done very quickly - within three minutes." The temperature can be set and varies between -11 and -30 °C. "The warehouse is Skal certified and complies with the highest BRC and IFS standards. We, therefore, meet the strict requirements of retail and the food service industry." While processing and storage is still done by shuttles, a yet-to-be-built cold storage warehouse will ensure the necessary efficiency. This warehouse is to be built directly adjacent to the factory. The construction of this building is set to start in 2019.
Nature's whims
Despite their expansion ambitions, the company is still, to some degree, at the mercy of nature's whims. "Last year was difficult. We saw 60% of our most important crop's expected yield go up in smoke. That was a hard blow. We were able to cope with this crisis because we have multiple crops growing in a nine-month period of the year", concludes Rens.
