Montosa has been growing steadily in France. What made now the right moment to significantly scale up your presence in Perpignan?

Thierry Athimon: It’s true that since the 1980s, the French market has been growing steadily for Montosa and is a key focus of our development as a business. We’ve recently signed new collaboration agreements that will generate even greater volume in the market. To continue offering the highest quality of service, we needed more space.

Beyond doubling capacity, what does this new facility allow you to do differently for your customers?

TA: We are redefining all our internal processes through our continuous improvement plan. Our goal is to provide the best possible service to our customers. To achieve this, it was essential to have enough capacity. We offer an expanded safety stock to service our customers with guaranteed forecasts. Furthermore, we are leveraging our Perpignan base as a hub to serve other destinations in Europe.

From a retailer or wholesaler’s perspective, how will this investment improve service – are we talking speed, flexibility, consistency, or all three?

TA: It was important for us to have the facilities we needed to support our expansion plan. We have more docks, allowing us to manage inbound and outbound shipments simultaneously. For a wholesaler, increased capacity means faster service and higher volumes. We are ready to service more platforms.

The avocado category is becoming increasingly competitive. Where does Montosa stand out today?

TA: We mustn’t confuse the inherent competitiveness of the business with the sharp increases in market demand that occasionally lead to a price drop due to oversupply, as we saw last year. Montosa isn’t the cheapest supplier, but it is a trusted supplier that offers a quality product ripened to the point agreed upon with the customer.

Reducing losses in stores and ensuring customer satisfaction is what it means to be competitive. We work towards this by investing in our processes and with our 3,000 partner farmers, so that quality comes directly from the field. We mustn’t forget that the avocado is a delicate fruit that doesn’t ripen on the tree but rather through our expert ripening processes. Perfectly ripened fruit is what help to build the category.

You’re planning to stock fresh guacamole in France. Does this signal a shift from being a fresh produce supplier to a more value-added food partner?

TA: We are now selling guacamole and avocado pulp in France. For years, the volume growth we achieved in Spain consumed all our capacity, and it took us a while to expand beyond the Pyrenees. Recent investments have given us more capacity, and we are pleased to be generating significant interest in France.

We are working to revitalise the avocado category. Our avocado pulp, with 98 per cent avocado content, allows chefs to personalise their recipes, and consumers appreciate our guacamole for uses beyond Mexican cuisine. But it is still not widely consumed in French households. A great deal of work needs to be done in partnership with retailers, and Montosa is an excellent partner for this.

If we come back in three years, what would need to have happened for this investment in France to be considered a real success?

TA: Looking at the last six months, we’ve significantly improved our service rate, and the new warehouse is a major contributor to this. We have a fully dedicated team helping us with this. Currently, the investment has been minimal because our new warehouse, although exclusively for our use, is rented. The increased volume we’ve already achieved covers part of the extra cost, and our ultimate success within three years would be seeing many more tonnes of product pass through it. Our goal isn’t to increase stock levels but to foster high turnover so we can always work with the freshest possible product.

Is France just a market for Montosa, or does it serve as a strategic hub for wider European expansion?

TA: France is a strategic market for us, where 80 per cent of households consume avocados. It’s a demanding market with much room for improvement. We work with specialists to offer the best product and trust their expertise. Retailers are very focused on volume, and we also excel in that area. Furthermore, Perpignan is a fantastic logistics hub that allows us to expand our reach to multiple destinations with established routes throughout Europe at the best cost, and today, transport costs are crucial in many transactions.