Within its growth strategy, Cesurca is preparing a greenhouse project, along with farms in a different province
Bad weather conditions have been the star of the start of Cesurca’s asparagus campaign. The flood caused by the overflow from the Cubillas reservoir affected around 260 hectares belonging to the company (220 of asparagus and 40 of artichoke). Therefore, in 2018 “the best possible scenario” will be to repeat the volumes reached last year: 4.5 million kilos of national produce and 2.7 of imported produce, the manager Antonio Francisco Zamora comments.
With this in mind, the company’s expansion project has been put on ‘stand by’. An increase in volumes will not be reached during this campaign, although the growth in surface area of between 120 and 150 hectares per year continues (currently, they have 1,100 hectares of asparagus and 180 of artichoke) and for 2019 the manager advances that they will expand their farms in another province, adding a new zone to one ones they already have in Granada, Seville, Cordoba and Cadiz.
Within their strategy they also plan to start up greenhouse asparagus crop trials. A project that they will start next year in different crop areas in Granada, alongside the open air ‘control’ crops, and for which they are already working on the action protocol.
In the marketing line, Cesurca is spotlighting the opening up of new markets where Spanish asparagus is not present. “We are analysing the profitability of Australia, Asia and the Middle East.” Another interesting destination would be the USA, but at present it is only possible to export white asparagus.
Diversification
Cesurca has an extensive offer. In asparagus alone it has green, wild with PGI Asparagus from Huétor-Tájar, white and purple, the latter in its second year on the market, “mainly aimed at exports, but also with sales in Spain, through Makro and El Corte Inglés.”
Both its fresh produce and its transformed range (they are amongst the few green and wild asparagus canneries in Spain) are characterised by their high quality. In order to be present on the market outside the asparagus campaign, the company also markets artichokes and pumpkins.
