Martinavarro group was founded in 1946 by the Matinavarro, Ballester and Dealbert families who had been trading locally in citrus fruits for some time.
Martinavarro started out in the UK and French markets as a wholesale trader.
In the 1950s, Martinavarro was a forerunner in the development of a European distribution network. The company set up commercial relations with many of the most important large-scale distributors and retailers in the European market. During this time, Martinavarro began supplying companies such as Marks & Spencer and this relationship has grown stronger over the years so that the company is now one of the principal citrus suppliers to this supermarket chain.
In the 1960s and 1970s, and coinciding with the arrival of the second generation of the founding families to the leadership of the company, Martinavarro enjoyed a high rate of growth. It established partnerships with major European market leaders such as Albert Heijn in Holland, Ica in Sweden, Sainsbury and Tesco in Great Britain, F.D.B. in Denmark and many others.
During the 1980s, Martinavarro started to diversify to include the production and distribution of a vegetable range in response to customer demand.
As this new market evolved, Verdimed S.A. was split off from Martinavarro to focus on the commercialization of broccoli, cabbage and lettuce.
At the end of this decade the challenge for citrus producers was to offer the best quality and service to their customers. New and innovative methods of cultivation were developed that were more eco-friendly and led to the production of new varieties of fruit. The technology at Martinavarro reached a high level of sophistication with the development of the NATURSENSE system and the techniques of Integrated Crop Production.
In the middle of the 1990s the third generation of the founder families took on the leadership of the company. Halfway through 2000 they were joined by a group of prestigious executives, who have ensured the formation of a solid management team and Board of Administration.
Today, Martinavarro is considered to be one of the most important exporters of citrus fruit and fresh vegetables and is well known for the quality of its products.
In Martinavarro we know that working in a traditional sector as agriculture, innovation, investment and a dinamic approach are all essential requirements for business. Our mission is “to be global leader in fresh citrus business, for selling to the big retailers; based on quality, food safety and customer service, generating added sustainable value”.
That is the reason why we participate in international projects searching for new varieties and also why we invest in new farms having the accurate conditions for crop of varieties requested by our customers.
Since 01/05/07 we have signed in UK the joint venture between Martinavarro and Mack Multiples "giving birth" to company MMG which represents a vertical integration model guaranteeing 7/12/365 produce control from farm to final consumer. Nowadays we manage many projects focusing to achieve the best global service 12 months to distribution chains and consumers all around the world.