The blueberry makes its way in the north of Spain

22/09/2016

Despite their small size, they call it the superfruit of the 21st century. It is not for less, taking into account that, in addition to its nutritional properties and rich flavor, cranberry is an excellent source of antioxidants and a powerful ally against urinary tract infections, and that its consumption increases the good cholesterol and combats the loss of memory .

But not only in these, but in their formidable qualities as a business niche, eight years ago a group of entrepreneurs from different towns in Cantabria was set. Convinced of one or another kindness, they joined forces, investment and estates inherited in disuse to start up Campoberry, a company that has become a model in the production of ecological blueberries in Spain and a reference in design and advice for the promotion of new plantations of this and other small wild fruits.

«We were dedicated to other businesses, but an expert agronomist friend told us about the blueberry adventure. We went down to Huelva – the leading province in the production of this fruit at the national level –, we got informed, we learned first-hand about the crop and its possibilities, and that's where it all started.", says Eduardo López, who was fully involved in the initiative along with Juan Rueda, Pedro Ortiz and Montserrat Rodríguez and is now, with the perspective of eight years of experience, "delighted" to have opted for blueberries to the point to make him the great protagonist of his second professional youth.

Turnkey projects

With Güemes (Cantabria) as the nerve center, Campoberry took its first steps with a plantation of ten hectares. In addition to starting this, Eduardo and his partners then sought to launch a pioneering design and advice service for the realization of new strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and blueberry plantations, offering their clients the possibility of obtaining their farm under the title of what they called turnkey, or what is the same, perfectly ready and conditioned for production.

The initiative -developed by the Hobby Creativo subsidiary- has not only worked well, but has also been a revolution for a crop barely developed in 2008 in the north of the peninsula and that has taken off with special force in recent years, as well as in Cantabria , in Asturias and lately in Galicia and the Basque Country. And to show, the figures that Campoberry handles, that if the past year incorporated 16 new hectares of blueberry plantations in the Cantabrian framework, this year it calculates to develop for other owners of farms another 26 hectares.

However, the innovative proposal of this Cantabrian company has not been left in the promotion of new plantations and advice, since, in that full confidence of the blueberry driving partners as an alternative agricultural business, has taken a step further guiding to the owners towards three paths with different tie levels with respect to the company itself. Thus, they can choose to fully disengage and directly manage and sell their fruit; by giving both functions to the Campoberry itself, or by directly taking over the cultivation of the farm and then incorporating the production obtained to a joint commercial group to take out through Campoberry, which, in this way, can offer them not only lower costs in the acquisition of raw materials necessary for production, but more benefit by placing the product on the market at highly competitive prices.

Manages 45 hectares

At this point, Eduardo López assures that «around 45-50%» The people who grow plantations stay in one way or another with them, in such a way that society directly manages 45 production hectares today.

This surface is part of the approximately 250 hectares that are already dedicated in the north of the peninsula to the cultivation of cranberry and that are added to those around 2.000 that dye red and purple Huelva fields. Two areas that complement each other -not in vain, the varieties and the climate allow to collect in the south between the months of December and June, and in the north of June to November- and that have turned Spain into one of the main producers to European level of a fruit that in other countries of the European continent is hardly collected for a month and that here, thanks to optimal weather conditions and terrain, calls for shouting.

Source: Eleconomista.es