As a sign of support, Anecoop, Spain's largest fruit and vegetable marketing cooperative, has announced the results of the 2023-2024 season at the headquarters of the citrus fruit cooperative COPAL, in the Valencian municipality of Algemesí, one of the most affected by the heavy storms and floods of October 29 in the province of Valencia.
At the General Assembly, which was attended by around 300 members, Anecoop's President Alejandro Monzón and General Manager Joan Mir highlighted the season's positive balance, with double-digit growth in both turnover and sales volume.
Anecoop has increased its turnover by 11.6% compared to the previous year, reaching a record 945 million euros. In terms of sales volume, it has exceeded 740,000 tons, 13.7% more than in the 2022-2023 campaign.
It has also been a record season in terms of combined turnover of all the companies that are part of Grupo Anecoop, with a total of 1,126 million euros; a figure that entails a 12.5% increase compared to the previous season, with a sales volume of over 1,100,000 tons.
With these figures, the agri-food cooperative is consolidating its position as the leading Spanish fruit and vegetable marketer and has increased its share of national exports to 5.04%.
Established as one of the largest international distribution companies for citrus, vegetables, non-citrus fruit and wine, it has 61 members in 13 Spanish provinces, and more than 20,000 agricultural producers are represented by it. In the 2023-2024 season, the average settlement price for its members increased by 1%, despite a 3% drop in average sales prices during the season. "This growth has been possible thanks to a series of improvements in management, including a reorganization of the logistics department, greater digitalization, the rationalization of some processes, and a reduction in costs," says Joan Mir.
Balance by-products of the 2023-2024 season
"From a production point of view, the greatest difficulties in the 2023-2024 season have been the increase in costs, the reduced availability of labor, and the higher incidence of pests and diseases, which are increasingly difficult to fight. Also worth mentioning are the reduction in fruit and vegetable consumption in Europe (the main market), the supply policies of clients, with greater demands and a general tendency to reduce the number of suppliers, and lastly, an increasingly fierce competition," says Joan Mir.
In this context, Anecoop has sold 265,155 tons of citrus, a figure that represents a 5.53% increase compared to the previous season. The fruit group is the one with the best results, both in terms of volume, with 277,996 tons (+35.41%) and turnover, exceeding 346 million euros (+31.85%).
The 2023-2024 season has also been a good one for kakis, and there has been a recovery of the melon and watermelon volume. There has also been significant growth in stone fruit for the second consecutive year, with a greater supply and over 50,000 tons marketed. Meanwhile, the volume of berries has increased by almost 50%. Vegetables have also grown by 5.52% in terms of volume and by 4.33% in terms of turnover, reaching 177,855 tons and 285 million euros.
Regarding the impact of October's storms and floods on the results of the 24/25 season, Joan Mir says that entire fields were devastated, causing the destruction of around 30,000 tons of kakis and between 8,000 and 10,000 tons of mandarins and oranges.
The General Manager of Anecoop also emphasized that "after several seasons of suffering in the organic produce business, with sales dropping considerably, last season we saw a double-digit increase, reaching 31,783 tons sold." The turnover of ready-to-eat processed products has reached more than 6 million euros.
Impact of the rain in recent weeks and concern for the next watermelon season
For several weeks now, the main fruit and vegetable growing areas have been hit by rainstorms and squalls, and although fruit crops are benefitting from it, they are also damaging other horticultural crops, as well as delaying and limiting the planting of watermelons, Anecoop's flagship product in summer, and taking a toll on the fruit set in the earliest areas.
"There are areas where all crops have been lost, especially in some areas of Murcia, where in addition to vegetables being affected, there are also delays in the watermelon and melon planting, and the same is happening in Seville. In Almeria, the frequent rains are not allowing the bees to work and are hindering the watermelon fruit set phase. In general, so many cloudy days with so much humidity are not good for vegetable crops. We are worried about the next watermelon season because some growers still don't know when they'll be able to plant. Berries are also affected by many problems," says Joan Mir.
Integration, the key to improving in terms of competitiveness
Faced with the sector's fragmentation, Anecoop is promoting integration and cooperation as the keys to improving the size of agri-food cooperatives in order to become more competitive and profitable in an increasingly changing and demanding global market.
According to the president of Anecoop, Alejandro Monzón, "We are still committed to integration and cooperation to face the challenges of a global and competitive economy. This is a challenge for the sector, along with adaptation to climate change, innovation, digitalization, the adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices, investment in R&D, and the promotion of generational handover."
General Manager Joan Mir reviewed some of the milestones of Anecoop's partners in this regard in the 2023-2024 campaign. "Univall has consolidated and completed its official integration during the season; the Cooperativa Vinícola de Llíria and Coabe have reached an agreement to pack all their citrus fruits in the Llíria facilities, and Grupo Persimmon continues to make steady progress. We are also still backing the integration of Fruits de Ponent and Actel, both united in Novacoop Mediterránea, a very powerful stone and pome fruit project."
Challenges in the International Year of Co-operatives
During the presentation of the CSR Report, Anecoop's managers outlined the challenges for the year 2025, which has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Co-operatives, under the slogan "Co-operatives build a better world". This is an excellent initiative aimed at promoting the important contribution made by co-operatives to socio-economic development throughout the world and giving visibility to the sector.
The President of Anecoop emphasized: "We must take advantage of this opportunity to invest in creating and backing a brand, gaining relevance and achieving differentiation, and connecting emotionally with national and international consumers, thus boosting the consumption of fruit and vegetables. We must also get young people to adopt business models with values and an ambition for social transformation, thus guaranteeing the generational handover that so concerns us. Cooperatives are much more than a way of doing business: they are a way of building a community."