Nursery and propagation specialist has teamed up with Vitácea Brasil to launch a “new era for Brazilian fruit growing”
Chile’s Grupo Hijuelas has joined forces with the Vitácea Brasil Group to develop nurseries and “revolutionise Brazilian fruit growing,” with the goal of strengthening access to advanced genetics and technological solutions for the country’s fruit industry.
The joint venture, which will combine local expertise, genetic innovation, and biotechnological capabilities in a context where the sector faces increasing production, climate, and market access challenges.
“The alliance between Grupo Vitácea Brasil and Grupo Hijuelas represents a milestone in the development of fruit growing in Brazil and Latin America,” said Murillo de Albuquerque Regina, partner and director of Vitácea, recognised in 2025 as Agronomist of the Year by the Association of Agricultural Engineers of the State of São Paulo (AEASP).
“By combining Vitácea’s national reach and technical expertise with the technological capacity, advanced genetics, and global presence of the Hijuelas Group, a centre of excellence is being created that places Brazil at the heart of an international chain of genetics, technology, and solutions for high-performance fruit growing.”
The CEO of the Hijuelas Group, Juan Ignacio Goycoolea, said the goal is to build an agricultural development platform with a global reach. “Brazil is a key step on that path, because it allows us to bring concrete solutions to producers who face increasingly complex challenges, from accessing quality plants with market appeal to proper management practices,” he explained.
Vitácea expects the alliance to provide Brazilian producers with direct access to top berry and stonefruit varieties, with internationally validated genetics adapted to Brazil’s temperate, tropical, and subtropical conditions.
Expectations are also high for access to cloned plants through innovative micropropagation protocols by Grupo Hijuelas, ensuring the quality and health of the supply. “This alliance opens doors for Brazilian producers to access technologies from international production chains, further consolidating Brazil’s presence in the global high-value-added fruit sector,” Murillo said.
With this initiative, the two companies said they are taking a significant step toward building a more efficient and sustainable fruit industry, based on innovation, advanced genetics, and strategic collaboration among stakeholders who share a long-term vision for agricultural development in the region.
Goycoolea stated: “We are a technology company that facilitates innovative methods for the agricultural world, and in that spirit, we will dedicate ourselves fully to the advancement of Brazilian fruit farming.”
The union between the Hijuelas and Vitácea groups creates a bridge between research centres, universities, and producer markets on different continents, fostering joint research projects, varietal development, and technology transfer with a lasting impact on modern agriculture.
The project envisions the development and installation of two production areas, one in Minas Gerais and the other in Petrolina, from where the Brazilian market will be supplied with plants of different species.
To begin operations soon, teams from Grupo Vitácea have already made technical visits to Hijuelas, Chile, to learn about in vitro practices and micropropagation technologies that will be relevant to this project.
