A bit of history -SurExport

A bit of history

Andrés Morales Rodríguez established Surexport in 1994 in Huelva, Andalusia. From the beginning, he focused his efforts on a single goal that he passed on to his family and company: produce and export the best berries in the world.

Although the company saw consistent growth from the start, it accelerated significantly from 2004, when it increased the production via the acquisition of farms in Almonte (Huelva). At that time, the area under production exceeded 100 hectares.

In its continuing drive to improve the berry varieties grown by Surexport, the company reached an agreement with Plant Sciences, Inc. three years later, in 2007. This ground-breaking agreement, which is presently sought by all market players as a differentiator, seemed far-fetched at that time. It also resulted in a major change in our market position. We went from traditional growers to thinking outside the box to find a way to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. A decade into this journey, we are highly satisfied with the new and unique strawberry and raspberry varieties we have created. In our quest for the perfect fruit, we test and develop a host of new varieties from across the world in several trial fields.

At the beginning of the second decade of this century, we purchased a farm in Almonte (Huelva), thereby increasing the production area to 486 hectares. Likewise, 2010 was also an important year: production started in Morocco, and the logistics platforms at Breda (Holland) and Brussels (Belgium) were implemented.

The production of frozen fruit and purées for industrial use began in 2013. This new business area, which complements traditional fresh production, has seen its volume and turnover increase year-on-year, contributing to the growth of Surexport.

A year later, a logistics and commercial centre opened in Breda, and a new fruit and vegetable centre, with more than 5,500 m², was built at La Tayola Farm in Almonte. The latter is equipped with the latest technological advances in terms of selection, handling, labelling and cold storage of fruit.

Furthermore, we started to produce raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries in Galicia, in the north of Spain, in 2015. This has allowed us to meet the year-round demand for berries, in particular, in the summer and autumn.

We expanded our Blueberry production that same year, with the aim of becoming Spain’s leading producer of this highly valued product with excellent nutritional and organoleptic properties.

The acquisition of the largest Portuguese strawberry producer allowed us to enter the Portuguese market In 2016, adding 100 Ha of land for out-of-season production, and providing added value to our current range of fresh produce.

This clearly reflects our desire to provide continuous, year-round service to all our customers. By diversifying the production areas, we can ensure stable, continuous and quality supply to increasingly demanding markets and customers.

As a result, we have entered exclusive partnership agreements with external growers, based on mutual trust, transparency and long-term vision, which incorporate external farmers into Surexport’s production chain. This is the case for our plantations in Kenya or in the southern Morocco, near Agadir, where we have a strong presence.

We currently have land in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Kenya for our own production, making us the leaders in the private berry production sector.

Forward-looking We will continue to deliver top quality fruits 365 days a year, and we will continue to grow and evolve to provide exceptional and exclusive service to our customers, always applying the best production and marketing practices available.