The cooperative Cosafra has put sustainability at the heart of its activity. Currently, it is in the process of obtaining the IFS and Spring quality certificates, which guarantee sustainable water management. On the subject of water, Cosafra has taken an important step that shows its commitment, reducing its water footprint by 80%. To achieve this, it has started up a water recycling system that allows it to be reused on the processing lines (cutting and washing) after filtering. “We have started this system up this year on the 4 processing lines that we have,” Javier Trujillo, the chairman of the company, explains.
More crops
At Cosafra they are maintaining their surface area growth rate, adding another 70 hectares every year. At present, they have a total of 600 ha; 90% in the Huétar-Tájar area, with a smaller amount outside the province, with 10% of the farms belonging to associate farmers.
This year they expect their 500 associates to harvest just under 2 million kilos of green asparagus, grown 100% in Spain. The majority of this volume will be harvested between the months of March and June, while in September and October, they will gather around 300,000 kg of ‘verdeo’ asparagus.
Regarding the varieties, the chairman of Cosafra emphasises that, although Grande F1 continues to be the indisputable leader, an increase in demand for the variety Magnum F1 is being seen in Germany. “They prefer the larger sizes over there, 12-16 or 16-10.”
Union in the Interprofessional Association
The sector has important challenges ahead of it, and for this reason it is essential to join together. Javier Trujillo is clear on this point. “The Interprofessional Association of Green Asparagus brings us all together.” He underscores the organisation’s promotion and advertising work for the produce and the work that it is carrying out to open up new markets. “We hope that the review of the export legislation to the United States is positive and we will be able to start selling green asparagus on this market. We still don’t understand why white asparagus is allowed, but not green.”
