Llombart was one of the pioneers of Spain’s horticultural miracle
Roberto Llombart, owner of the Nules, Castellón-based Llombart Producer Group, has died.
Llombart was born in Nules in June 1952, during the post-war period, when Spain was an internationally isolated dictatorship. But Europe needed our oranges, and in the 1952/53 season, the country exported 1.005mn tonnes, a significant portion of which were already leaving the Nules and Burriana train stations, where Roberto’s father, Miguel Llombart, worked as a stationmaster for Renfe, Spain’s National Railway Network.
Miguel Llombart Moles (1922-1996) was a restless, self-taught man who learned English by listening to the BBC on shortwave every morning before heading to the station. He had no problem traveling to other stations or even to the border at Portbou, where Renfe sent him. However, he was uncertain about the future of the family he had started with Lolita Gavalda in 1945. As his sons, Miguel (born in 1947), Roberto (1952), and Juan (1956), were born in Nules, the idea of emigration began to take hold as a way to improve his family’s life.
After much deliberation, he decided to leave his “secure” job at Renfe and in 1960 he went to Germany as a guest worker (Gastarbeiter) to work for a building materials company. His real goal, however, was to learn German so that he could sell the trainloads of oranges and tangerines that several cooperatives in Castellón had entrusted him with.
Lolita stayed in Nules with Miguel, Roberto, and Juan. In 1962, the whole family moved to Kehl, the gateway for the trains of citrus, potatoes, onions, and melons that Spain exported at that time. Miguel understood that if his children went to school in Kehl, they would learn German and probably have a better future than Spain could offer them. In 1965, their daughter, Alicia, was born.
At 16, in 1968, Llombart began combining studies with working with his father. He went on to work 54 consecutive seasons until he was 70 in 2022, on the front lines, managing the Spanish branch of the Llombart group in Nules, now Llombart Producer, a company specialising in supplying the full range of Spanish products and the undisputed leader of Spanish exports to Scandinavia.
His long and distinguished career is testament to the fact that Llombart was the epitome of those who understood the evolution of markets, moving from port auctions and wholesale market sales to direct sales to distribution chains. He quickly grasped that there was more to Spain than just fine clementines and Nules apples, and that consolidating relationships with end customers required building a wide product portfolio. Integrating different production areas allowed the company to supply the market for almost twelve-months of the year, compared to the six-month citrus supply that was typical in his early years.
Spain has experienced its own fruit and vegetable miracle, transforming in recent decades from being a supplier of citrus, tomatoes, potatoes, and onions to becoming the world leader in exports of vegetables and non-citrus fruits, as well as citrus. This required the land, the people who cultivated it, those who prepared it for market, and those who connected this production with consumers.
At this point, Llombart was a true professional, bridging the gap between production and customers. In 1974, his father’s ill health led to him taking charge of the company at the age of 22. Over the years, he was able to harmoniously manage the integration, first of the second generation, his siblings, and now of the third generation, four members of which are already fully active in the company.
With its deep roots in Spanish agricultural production across various crops, the Llombart Group today has revenues of more than €210mn. The company remains as the legacy of a great man for his family, his friends, and the professionals throughout Spain and Europe who had the honour of working with him. His daughter Dani perfectly captured this reality and moved us all at the massive farewell we gave him on 17 May in his beloved Nules.
