The activity of the organisation from Moguer never stops. The cooperative is the first one in its sector to join the United Nations Global Compact to meet SDGs. In an initial phase it will concentrate on three
It was one of the pioneer companies to publicise healthy living habits with its food education programme ‘Fresayunando’ (Breakfastrawberry), organising emotional intelligence and instructional and professional guidance camps for children and teenagers, and now, aware of the possible environmental impact that its activity generates, it has opted for photovoltaic energy and the reduction of plastic.
In the first stage of its membership as a signatory of the Global Compact, the company will concentrate on three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), mainly on No. 3, ‘Good Health and Well-being’, No. 7 ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’ and No. 9, related to ‘Industry, innovation and infrastructure’.
“Sometimes many of the Compact’s recommendations are being carried out without realising it and the important point is to communicate this and spread the importance of meeting the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda from the agrifood sector as well. This was our case; therefore it is not proving to be complicated. Having such an explicit guide is a catalyst to continue improving,” Juan Báñez, manager of Cuna de Platero explains.
One of these examples involves the topic of energy: the recent installation of a photovoltaic panel at the organisation’s headquarters allows around 175,000kWh of energy to be generated annually, which means a reduction in emissions of 87.46 tn of CO2 per year.
This campaign will be used as a trial phase for implanting a line that will allow strawberries to be packaged in more sustainable tubs. “It is a pilot scheme because what we want to do is one thing one and the technical and productive reality is quite another, but, in any event, in the future this trend will continue and we must be able to offer quality service whilst being environmentally sustainable,” Báñez explains.
This season, the organisation’s planted surface area will remain virtually stable, with around 550 hectares of production. The volumes are difficult to forecast “because the campaign is long and the weather conditions uncertain.”
Last season, 46,000 tonnes of strawberries were produced. As the company is established in Ávila, Cuna de Platero keeps its trade flow 12 months of the year and it can serve the Spanish distribution sector from June to December. In Castilla, the crops are produced using neutral day varieties such as San Andreas, Charlotte and Portola.
Accordingly, Báñez comments on the need to continue researching into new varieties because they are the key to the future. “We are licensees of the ones we consider to be leaders in the sector, but we are also immersed in our own research.”
Regarding the marketing of bilberries and raspberries, the executive explains that “in bilberries we are going to start preparing larger formats, a trend marked out by the markets in northern Europe.” On the other hand, in raspberries, they will continue to opt mainly for the Adelita variety on their 150 hectares of production.
