Actel claws back historic volumes

According to sales director Jordi Gázquez, in 2016 Actel is set to recover what used to be its historic volumes.

“We’re on track to recover the 15% in volume that was lost last year due to hail and we’ll also have new generation varieties, resulting from a significant varietal change,” Gázquez said.

In firm stride and at peak production, the challenge facing the Spanish cooperative will involve redefining its business strategies: on one hand, to diversify towards more overseas destinations and, on the other, to further strengthen its links with Europe, its main ally and traditional market.

Management efficiency and ensuring the most well-rounded supply possible are some of Actel’s most essential qualities. So, for this campaign it hopes to incorporate pomegranate and persimmon programmes.

“Combining kaki fruit and pomegranate is our way of offering the customer a wider variety of products, which will always be managed by our quality standards. We rolled out this initiative three years ago in citrus with the inclusion of Soldebre, and now we’re expanding it to other new items,” Gázquez said.

Actel is a major figure in Catalan stone fruit supplies, as the combined forces of its farmer members can help reach significant volumes, ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 depending on the campaign.

Actel has a supply schedule covering virtually the entire Spanish harvest. It starts up with early fruit from Seville at the end of April, then moves to fruit from Extremadura as of mid-May, before finally ending with supplies from Catalonia and Murcia in October.