Collaboration between Semillas Fitó and Business Farmers to promote the Foodture project
The agricultural sector is, without a doubt, one of the most active drivers of our economy, with large vertically integrated companies that operate all over the world, recording significant turnover and creating a large number of jobs. At the same time, trends in food distribution, especially those that affect food retailers, are reducing the distance between producers and distributors, with a focus on developing a direct relationship between producers and the purchasing departments of chains. In this context, Semillas Fitó and Business Farmers have come together to turn the Semillas Fitó department called Foodture into a key differentiating element in the sector.
The Foodture organization is, in itself, an innovation-based structure that is establishing itself as a new benchmark in the provision of services to farmers and retailers. To achieve their objective, Semillas Fitó and Business Farmers have decided to structure through Foodture an entire team made up of technologists and scientists —experts in consumer markets, developers of categories and business models, experts in innovation and quality, as well as in relations with farmers, consultative selling and access to the market— with the aim of introducing new categories to the market that provide differentiation for farmers and retailers, on the one hand, and help protect margins, on the other, as well as stable categories that connect with and are assimilated into the habits of consumers. The idea is to also maximize the value of the existing consumer brands in Semillas Fitó, such as the Monterosa, Waikiki, CRÜ, Wabi-Sabi, Nippo, etc. and achieve a stable positioning on the shelves of retailers.
At a time when the importance of fresh produce for retailers is increasing —by contributing to protecting margins, generating differentiation between chains and maintaining the physical channel— there is a need to establish a broad and solid differentiation of brands and categories. It is for this reason that the pressure from large retailers on producers is also increasing, since they are focusing on the search for two key elements to ensure competitiveness: price and differentiation.
In light of this situation, Semillas Fitó’s Foodture department, aims to stand out as a qualitative and differentiating element in the relationship between actors in the chain that provides differentiated products and that protects margins. To achieve this, it has established a dialogue with farmers that goes beyond technical and production aspects and provides them with solutions on issues related to marketing, positioning, access to channels, innovation, differentiation, packaging, category and quality management, among other things. The objective of the project is, ultimately, to establish a qualitative and constructive dialogue between producers and retailers.
Foodture focuses its efforts on achieving differential varieties based on different sources of added value: improvements in breeding, the implementation of new varieties adapted to the needs of farmers and retailers, the detection of new consumer needs based on new consumption habits, the definition of new categories, etc. All this through continuous investment in R&D and support for categories with brand attributes that defend the position of retailers and empathize with end consumers by adapting to new consumer trends. Foodture represents the balance between research, development, innovation and marketing on the one hand, and the needs of farmers, retailers and end consumers on the other.
About Semillas Fitó:
Semillas Fitó is a leading multinational in the sector of genetic breeding, production and distribution of vegetable and field crop seeds that operates with the purpose of generating sustainable wealth throughout the agri-food chain.
With an investment in R&D&I of more than 15% of its annual turnover, it is the agricultural company that most invests in research in its sector, allowing it to become a stand-out benchmark in the Mediterranean and South American markets. Always at the farmer’s side, it currently has ten subsidiaries, as well as a direct presence in another 10 countries and sales in more than 70 countries around the world.
The Vegetable Seeds division produces seven main species, including some in which it is the market leader, depending on the region: tomato, pepper, aubergine, melon, watermelon, cucumber and courgette, in addition to some legumes such as broad beans, green beans and sweet corn. To meet the new consumer needs of recent years Fitó created Foodture, a department dedicated to the creation of new concepts and brands of vegetable seed varieties that respond to the demands of quality, health, flavour and formats of the consumers of today and of the future.
About Business Farmers:
Business Farmers is a service company which operates under two lines of action: the acceleration and management of corporate spin-offs and M&A operations with a minimum 12-month horizon in which it can have an impact on the final value of the companies for sale.
Business Farmers focuses its activity on increasing the value of the end customer’s operation, either by improving the business models with which it operates or by maximizing the opportunities of the customer as well as the quality and market behaviour of its products or services, its customer relationships and access to the channel.
The involvement of Business Farmers in operations accelerates the achievement of results, reduces the time and learning required to do so, and maximizes the value of the final operation, while providing highly specialized and proven know-how and execution. To this end, it always seeks to maximize synergies between companies and bring a cross-cutting perspective to the operation, with the aim of obtaining the maximum value from the customer’s opportunities.
