More consolidation at Anecoop

Anecoop member cooperatives Camp de Llutxent-Otos and Vitivinícola La Pobla (La Pobla del Duc) have agreed to merge. The new entity, a second-degree cooperative, will be named Univall Coop and be headquartered in Llutxent.

It will manage 30-32,000 tonnes of fruit next season. The bulk of this will be citrus, processed in Llutxent-Otos’s packhouse, while La Pobla’s facility will specialise in persimmon, stonefruit and other fruits and vegetables such as watermelon.

The two cooperatives said the merger will allow them to continue growing efficiently by concentrating their production and diversifying their, while optimising the use of warehouses to reduce costs.

At the same time, Llutxent-Olos announced the integration of another cooperative, f La Llosa de Ranes. The two worked closely together during the last stonefruit campaign.

In a joint statement, the presidents of the Camp de Llutxent-Otos and Vitivinícola La Pobla cooperatives, Juan Canet Canet and Blas García Climent, said: “the future of cooperatives involves integrating to gain competitiveness and be capable to address in better conditions the demands of a market that continually poses challenges to our sector”.

Anecoop president Alejandro Monzón, added that “for Anecoop it is a key growth strategy for our members that we have been promoting for some time”.