The company from Granada will start marketing it this year
They have been working on this project for some time and in a few months time it will become a reality. The company Novofrut will start marketing ‘bio’ tropical fruit from 2018/19. The sales manager, José Francisco Novo, advances to Fruit Today that they already have a European distributor through which they will sell their produce under the Novofrut brand name. For this first phase they have around 12 hectares of crops, most of which (60%) are devoted to its star product, the custard apple, and the remainder to mango and avocado, with 20% each.
In conventional crops, the company has 50 hectares of its own, to which are added others belonging to around a dozen associates. During this campaign, they expect to increase their fruit production by 15%. This positive evolution is the result of several actions they have developed in recent years, aimed at responding to the increase in demand by customers (more crop surface area, enlargement of cold chambers and ripening rooms, purchase of a new warehouse, etc.) “Our custard apple sales have grown appreciably in the United Kingdom and Italy, and also, although to a lesser extent, in third countries such as Morocco, the Middle East and Canada,” Novo states. In order to differentiate the company in terms of quality, they opt for shipping by air to the more distant destinations, a fast alternative that allows the fruit to be harvested at the perfect point of ripeness.
Novofrut’s range is made up of custard apples (of the Fino de jete variety), avocados (Bacon, Fuerte and Hass), mangos (Osteen and Keit) and medlars (Golden). All of them are produced and handled using mainly traditional manual processes. This is the reason, at least at the moment, for its main market share being found on the traditional markets (marketplaces and importers).
Amongst their challenges, there is only one that is slipping away from them: “we still have the eternal need for water. Greater flexibility in the channels is needed from the Administration”.
