This year is your 30th anniversary, how would you evaluate this journey? What milestones would you particularly emphasise?
From these 30 years I would underscore that fact that we were pioneers in avocado imports in the 1990s, in order to supply clients all year long, becoming a reference all over Europe.
The opening of the offices in Paris and Valencia, as well as the farms in Spain and Portugal, of which we now have over 500 hectares, are another of our milestones.
Also, the incorporation of my children: Jorge Reyes (Manager of AVOMIX), María Reyes (Manager of Avofruits), and Pablo Reyes, who is deeply involved in the management of Reyes Gutiérrez, all of whom I am proud both as family members and as entrepreneurs.
What is your evaluation of the 2022/23 campaign and what could be expected from the next one?
The balance is good, both in mangos and in avocados. We continue to grow, although not with the same strength as in previous years. This growth is no long a two digit figure annually, but even so, we continue to grow. The truth is that it is a responsive sector, although it is beginning to see moments of collapse due to the large amount of new providers on the market.
When talking about avocados, the European demand is very good, although the markets have become sluggish and weighed down at present, due to the important volume coming in from other countries. We estimate that at the end of September this course will have changed.
Regarding the harvest, the next campaign is going to have a very low volume. The drought has not helped us. When talking about mangos, the Spanish harvest has just started and it will be 70-80% lower than last year’s due to the water shortages we are suffering from at the moment.
What challenges do you have for the very near future and for the medium term?
One of our targets is the sustainability of the processes. As a challenge, we are concentrating on minimising water consumption for our fruit. We are investing in technology and highly qualified personnel to obtain maximum yield with minimum water and therefore be able to continue serving our fruit to all the households in Europe.
Another target is to continue sowing plants until completing the project of 1,000 hectares of avocados on the Spanish mainland and around 100 hectares of mangos in La Axarquía.
