As it moves into a new era of professional management, the Malaga-based company has its sights set on international expansion
Founded in Malaga’s Axarquía region in 1982 as a traditional avocado and mango grower, family-owned Montosa has spent more than four decades evolving into one of Europe’s leading integrated tropical fruit specialists, supplying retailers and wholesalers with ready-to-eat fruit and pioneering HPP guacamole.
The transformation has been built around three pillars: internationalisation, innovation and control of the entire value chain. Today, Montosa works with more than 3,000 grower partners – around 1,500 in Spain and the remainder across South America – allowing it to supply customers all year round. The company handles more than 45,000 tonnes of avocados and 10,000 tonnes of guacamole annually, with approximately 50 per cent of this exported to European markets.
For Montosa, the key differentiator is not simply supplying fruit, but ensuring that every avocado reaches the consumer at the right stage of ripeness. “Good fruit starts in the field – it requires good soil, water, good orchard management and careful harvesting at the optimal time. If we have good fruit, we can do a good job ripening it,” says commercial director Thierry Athimon.
The company’s approach is based on maximising the value of every fruit harvested. “We try to use 100 per cent of the crop,” says Athimon. “Around 5-15 per cent of our avocados do not meet the visual standards required for the fresh market due to external skin imperfections. However, their pulp remains in perfect condition and fully meets our quality standards, so these fruits are used to produce our guacamole. Any avocados that do not meet the standards for either the fresh market or guacamole production are redirected to other industries.”
Guacamole is not simply an outlet for fruit that doesn’t make the grade for the fresh market: It is a lucrative extra revenue stream that provides a new way for consumers to eat avocados. Going forward, such initiatives will be all the more necessary, says Athimon, as global avocado plantings continues to climb. The company is now looking to expand its guacamole business internationally and is investing in additional manufacturing capacity.
Building expertise from the orchard to the consumer
For Athimon, improving the consumer experience is the key to growing the avocado category. “I believe there is still plenty of room for growth in avocados – they have a bright future. But we need to make sure that the fruit always reaches the consumer is in optimal condition,” he says.
He believes the challenge is not just increasing supply, but creating confidence among consumers. “Avocado consumption is growing globally and this attracts new players to the business. It also means there is more variable quality on the market. We can guarantee the quality of each individual piece of fruit by controlling every link in the value chain.”
A pioneer in fresh guacamole
Montosa began producing HPP guacamole in 2006, becoming one of Spain’s pioneers in the technology. HPP (High Pressure Processing) is a non-thermal pasteurisation method that uses intense water pressure to eliminate harmful pathogens and extend the product’s shelf-life while preserving its freshness, quality, flavour, and nutritional properties.
The business is well established in the domestic market, where Montosa’s biggest customer is Spain’s leading supermarket, Mercadona, and there are now plans to scale up production is preparation for an export push into France and other European markets.
Today, the company’s guacamole facility can produce up to 50 tonnes per day, with different recipes tailored for each market, adjusting characteristics such as spice levels and texture according to consumer preferences. Yet despite the high output, the product remains artisanal, with each fruit cut and prepared by hand and the final recipe containing around 95-96 per cent fresh avocado.
Investing in quality and technology
Montosa’s two adjacent facilities in Malaga reflect its integrated model: one dedicated to fresh fruit handling and ripening, the other to guacamole production. Quality control begins as soon as avocados arrive at the packhouse. “The moment the fruit arrives we carry out our first QC check,” says quality director Marta Santos López. “We cut fruit in half and samples are taken to analyse dry matter content. Samples are also taken to the laboratory to check for pesticides and other biological matter. The fruit is then tested in the ripening chamber to see how it ripens.”
This first QC check is incredibly important because that is the basis on which the company decides how it is going to manage the fruit. Montosa operates 26 ripening chambers, reflecting the complexity of managing a product where every piece of fruit behaves differently.
“It’s important to remember that no two pieces of fruit are the same, and no two pieces of fruit ripen in the same way,” Santos says. “Any number of factors can affect the ripening process – the stage of the season when the fruit has been picked, climate, the nutrients the tree has received and many other variables.”
This season, Montosa has invested in a new MAF Roda GlobalScan G7UV electronic grading system, combining artificial intelligence and multispectral cameras to improve quality assessment. “Innovation in Montosa goes hand in hand with sustainability,” says Santos, adding that another major milestone reached by the company has been reducing plastic in fresh produce packaging, adapting responsibly to new consumer habits.
A new era of professional management
Montosa is also entering a new phase at corporate level. In May of this year, Enrique Colilles was appointment as CEO, marking a transition from founder-led management towards a more structured professional governance model.
Colilles brings extensive food industry experience. After beginning his career at Ernst & Young, he became managing director of Trops, a position he held for 26 years until stepping down in March 2024 to move to Portugal’s Treemond Group.
His appointment is designed to support Montosa’s next stage of development as founder and co-owner José Luis Montosa steps back from daily operational responsibilities and hands greater responsibility to a professional executive team. “The intention is to introduce a higher level of rigour, empowerment and professionalisation at every level of the organisation,” Colilles says.
Managing director Marta Sanjuan describes the company’s ambition clearly: “We are a European benchmark at the forefront of the tropical sector. Our absolute focus is to continue innovating and investing in the latest-generation technology and infrastructure to consolidate our growth from Axarquía,” she says.
The move has inevitably prompted speculation about Montosa’s longer-term strategic direction, particularly given the growing interest from investors in successful fresh produce businesses with strong brands, integrated supply chains and international reach. While acknowledging that future strategic opportunities cannot be ruled out, Colilles says there is no plan for a sale in the foreseeable future. For now, the priority is strengthening the business for continued growth.
Looking ahead, Montosa’s future strategy centres on expanding its European footprint, increasing its presence in fresh tropical fruit and developing its value-added business.
Industrial director Damian Spata highlights the company’s commitment to investment: “We constantly focus on innovation,” he tells Eurofruit. “We are currently carrying out an ambitious investment project to maintain the high standards that define us and improve our processes, always with the aim of offering the best product to our customers and final consumers.”
For Athimon, the opportunity is clear. Avocado consumption remains underdeveloped in many European households, with consumers typically purchasing avocados only a few times a year. “We need to get more people eating avocados and create new eating opportunities,” he says.
After four decades of evolution, Montosa is no longer simply a grower from southern Spain. It is positioning itself as an international tropical fruit specialist – one built on agricultural expertise, technological investment and a determination to control quality from orchard to consumer.
