The province of Huelva scrolls inland from the Atlantic, covering terrain scorched by heat and soaked by coastal marshes. This is the sunniest region of Spain, but the soil also benefits from having been at the bottom of the sea millions of years ago. Its abiding sand-like texture is riven by surface waters that are now relatively low in salt content.
For the growers at Alamo Farm, on the edge of Doñana National Park, these conditions mean one thing above all else: the absolute best strawberries. And for Andrés Morales Vilar and family, that particular fruit has been the story of their lives. Their company Surexport now grows other berries in other countries – including Morocco, Portugal, Mexico, Peru and soon India and China – but the family business began with the strawberries that brought Andrés’ fruit-farming parents to Huelva in the first place.
The Inspire variety of strawberry is the result of years of genetic breeding to achieve the perfect size, colour, flavour and shelf life
The province of Huelva is the sunniest region of Spain, which, coupled with the region’s sandy soil, creates excellent growing conditions for strawberries
He grew up around them, and when he finished school helped to found and build the small shipping operation that has long since become a leading international name in the industry.
Today Andrés is CEO, and no less passionate about the original and ongoing mission.
“Since the very beginning we were focused on improving the offer,” he says. “Finding better growing techniques, better quality fruit and better genetics to keep developing berries that will delight our customers.” It’s a dynamic business, and berries are a bigger deal than they used to be in terms of the market, but for such a major player, Surexport still has a “grower’s soul”, as commercial manager Carmen Perez Andrade puts it.
Andrés Morales Vilar, CEO of Surexport
Ripe strawberries are picked in the morning and flown to Dubai that same evening
“We still have the mindset of artisans,” she says. “We want to give our customers something different and genetics have always been the key.” In this respect, one specific variety of strawberry has become a favourite of consumers all over the world, and not least of Spinneys’ customers in Dubai. Aptly named Inspire, it’s the product of a successful breeding programme that took years to come to literal fruition.
“People might not realise how many steps are involved in the value chain,” says Surexport’s operations manager Vicente Jiménez. “It’s a complex process, from farming to consumer perception and the average time to create a commercial variety is around 10 years.” The results can be spectacular, however, as happened with Inspire. “It’s got a fantastic flavour, it’s the perfect size and colour and has a good shelf life and it’s quite stable, so the quality stays high throughout the growing season,” says Vicente.
In recent years, the conventionally grown berries have also been supplemented with organics. “We see that many consumers prefer it. Obviously it makes growing more difficult because of the limitations imposed to control pests, but we still have good results.”
From midwinter to early spring the sugars in the fruit build up, resulting in large berries with exceptional eating quality
In recent years, the conventionally grown berries have also been supplemented with organics. “We see that many consumers prefer it. Obviously it makes growing more difficult because of the limitations imposed to control pests, but we still have good results.”
Demand is such that it drives the expansion of the company to other territories, where alternate growing seasons allow for year-round production on the most popular berries. Surexport’s domain now ranges from northern Spain and Holland to the depths of Peru. In some areas the family has purchased farms directly, in others they work with trusted third-party growers, but in general the aim is to bring all foreign operations in line with the impressive technical specs on display here in Huelva.
“Our factory is very highly automated to process fruit as quickly as possible, decrease the temperature as fast as we can, increase the shelf life and reach consumers in the best possible condition,” says Vicente.
Vincente Jiménez, operations manager
Spinneysfood labels ready for the punnets
“Within half an hour of harvest the fruit should be in a refrigerated truck on its way to the packing house. We put it in cold store to stop the degradation process and within three hours it’s in fast-cooling tunnels at almost zero degrees, ready for loading,” he adds.
On a visit to the farm in mid-February, Spinneys commercial produce manager Neil Gibson watches all this happen in real time. Midwinter to early spring is peak strawberry growing season on this site, explains Neil: “The days are still short, so the fruit takes longer to ripen, with sugars building up over maybe 30 days. That gives you a larger berry and really adds to the eating quality.” Like many consumers, he’s a particular fan of the Inspire variety.
“It’s absolutely one of our favourites. It looks beautiful, travels really well, it’s got the perfect finish and the perfect sweetness. The texture is ideal as well, not too crunchy not too soft.”
The berries now being picked behind him – big, bright, heart-shaped points of red against the deep blue Spanish sky – will soon be packed onto Spinneys pallets then quickly processed, labelled and flown to Dubai this evening. For those customers at the end of the supply chain, awaiting the freshest possible fruit, Neil has words of assurance: “They’ll be in Spinneys stores by tomorrow night.”
