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Borges Agricultural & Industrial Nuts will plant 600,000 almond trees in the next five years

Borges Agricultural & Industrial Nuts is sowing to keep growing. The company’s 2016-2021 expansion plan includes planting 600,000 almond trees over the next five years to increase the company’s own nut production capacity and to boost profits from sales.

The company estimates planting between 240 and 280 trees for each 2,500 new hectares which it is intending to buy as part of its expansion strategy in southern Spain and Portugal. This was announced today by CEO David Prats during a visit to the almond factory operated by the company in Reus.

The company acquired 87 new hectares in Badajoz and is in the final stages of negotiating purchases and leases over approximately 750 additional hectares. There is also a portfolio of around 2,000 hectares in the early stages of analysis. The strategic object of the plan is to develop and diversify the farming division to increase own production and capture the entire value agri-food production chain. This strategy will enable Borges to increase its own production and improve the profit margin.

The almond plant in Reus processes approximately 20,000 tonnes every year, the equivalent of nine per cent of all almonds consumed in Europe and is equipped with avant-garde almond processing technology that prepares them for final consumption. Almonds go through an industrial process governed by very strict quality controls to guarantee that they reach the end of the process in perfect condition for final packaging and consumption.

From harvesting to the final consumer eating the nut, the almond goes through a technological-industrial process with the latest innovations in terms of product quality control. The thousands of almonds controlled every day pass through infrared filters, ultrasound resonances, monochromatic, biochromatic, densiometric and laser sorters, among other filters and, finally, a final manual check that controls and guarantees the quality of the product.

The company’s general assembly, held on 16th February, approved a capital increase to obtain the necessary financial resources to develop the aforementioned expansion plan. The Board also approved the request for admission to trading of its shares in the continuous market, provided market conditions make this advisable.

The capital increase approved by the Board provides for the issue and release of 1,127,000 new shares with a par value of 3.01 euros each and grants the Board of Directors of the company the authority to set the issue premium for the valuation of the company based on the nominal value of the new shares.

Borges Agricultural & Industrial Nuts carried out a corporate merger process, grouping six subsidiaries (Frusansa, Borges, S.A.U., Almonds of Height, Borges of California, Frusesa and Palacitos) that produce and market Borges International Group nuts. BAIN manages about 1,400 hectares of own crops in Spain and the United States, sells to 56 countries and had a pro-forma turnover of 206.5 million at the end of 2015 (end of year 31st May), driven by the favourable market for nuts.

At the end of 2015, BAIN had processed and marketed 35,130 tons of nuts, dried fruit and snacks, 47.8 percent of which were almonds, 10.4 percent walnuts and 1.4 percent pistachios. The remaining 40.5 percent were other nuts, dried fruits and snacks.