Patatas Meléndez, specialised in the production, handling and sale of potatoes, will start marketing sweet potatoes in 2019. The company is carrying out tests with several producers in Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz (an ideal area for the crop's cultivation) and negotiating the creation of a mixed society for the handling of this alternative to potatoes. The goal, according to internal sources, is to increase their exports, since, in their opinion, it is a product with a high potential for growth both in Spain and in the rest of Europe.
The firm has invested € 3.88 million over the last two years to prepare its facilities and increase its production capacity. In 2017, it allocated € 2.03 million in new bulk lines, packaging machines, palletisers, tippers, weight controllers and improvements in its industrial premises. In the current year, it has set up packaging lines for new products, more tippers and a strapping machine, and has also launched a new annexed warehouse with the necessary machinery. The latter has required an investment totalling €1.85 million.
The company was once again the largest potato operator nationwide, according to the latest sector report published by Alimarket. The majority of its volume, 75% out of 150,000 tonnes, goes to the large consumer sector. The rest is divided between the processing industry (24%) and the food service industry (1%). This volume generated 55.45 million Euros by the end of the latest financial year. 7% of this figure came from exports to Portugal, Belgium, the UK and Eastern European countries.
Source: alimarket.es
