Interview to Antonio Luque, general director of Dcoop

The group agroalimentario Dcoop, fruit of the union between Highlands with Hojiblanca, is today “world-wide leader in the sector oleícola”, as it ensures to Interempresas his general director, Antonio Luque. “From the same day of our birth, are firm applicants to turn into us a big cooperative agroalimentaria European adding new sectors like the livestock or the cereal”.

This union improves the resources to our scope to attain our aim: achieve greater profitability for the producers by means of the saving of the costs of transformation and the improvement of the commercialisation of our products.

As it would do it any big company that pursues to improve his results: abaratando the cost of the insumos, optimising the human resources and fabriles, profesionalizando the strength of sales, opening new markets and new channels...

As it has been a frankly bad year, of scarce production and acceptable prices, therefore, of few operations. Nevertheless, to productive level a rest after several campaigns with productions in historical levels always comes well to the olivos, what has brought like consequence a backstitch of prices.

Have permanent offices in China and United States, and a strong presence in the European Union, Mexico, Brazil, Iran, Japan, countries of the ancient Soviet Union, South Africa, Arab countries… The exporting activity centres good part of our strategy of sales and supposes an important road of growth inside the plans of development of Dcoop.

Although it persists the confusion in the consumer on the qualities of oil, the virgin have advanced considerably on the olives in the last years. It treats of a product of big quality, competitive in price with the refinados. The extra keeps inside and out of our borders like indisputable leader although the prices condition a lot the evolution of the market. It is a problem that can perceive like an excessively expensive product, when the statutory requirements force to bottle an oil of big quality that really cost what costs to manufacture it.

Operate in a sector where handle big volumes but the margin of net profit for the producer is really adjusted. The agriculturalists have to study the costs of transformation of his production to the millimetre to be able to obtain a real profitability, further of the helps that can complement the income. It is here where Dcoop pretends to turn into an ally offering to each partner the advantages to have aunado efforts.

Have big hopes put in the campaign that now begins regarding the recovery of the production. We have to manage the best possible the sales to avoid that the cotizaciones fall to levels underneath of the threshold of profitability.

The olivos are having an optimum behaviour. We have aforado 250.000 tonnes. We trust that the prices keep in an acceptable level, but fear us that they will not be so acceptable as in the previous.

The consumer exerts his power of purchase when it squares him a simple equation: quality/ price. In this sense, the oil of Spanish olive is in disposal to give sobrada answer. Besides, it represents a pillar in the national economy and gives to eat to tens of thousands of families. It is not a lot ask that each Spanish was ambassador of our olive oil. Now well, we operate in a global market and of the same forms that we aspire to have penetration in other countries, are conscious that they do not exist more borders that those that the consumer want to put. Besides, there are some countries that competitively have costs of production (by low wages, no requirements of sanitary ware controls…) inferior to ours.

Think that the agriculturalists are doing true efforts by modernizar his fincas, still not obtaining of the crop the profitability wished to invest in equipment that would help them to have fincas much more productive. It is necessary to take into account that the olive grove is in hands of minifundistas. Only in Dcoop have 65.000 families working the field. In the following links (transformation and commercialisation) himself are a competitive country and leader in the majority of the facets.

Said that we are leaders in the majority of the fields, but no in others. Precisely we are leaving that the interests of other countries impose in the international rule, at the same time that assist to a problem of juridical inhygiene created in our own country, for example, as in the big existent disparity between panels of tasting, that follows without resolving , that precisely are using like argument to attack to the Spanish oils. It exists a lot of rule that comes to constreñir the commercial relations treating to pursue a presumptive fraud by the disparity in the assessments organolépticas, when it does not pursue the one of the mixes, for example.

Like general director of Dcoop only can say that we work each day so that the agriculturalist do not depend so much of these helps. It is more, like agriculturalists, sometimes the uncertainty on the same prevents us grow and schedule with the height of look that it requires our future. This does not remove that we defend them and receive us while they exist.

The decision answers to a historical claim of the sector by what supposes a big news that would have to have arrived does time to avoid, as it occurs in the actuality, that still there is the one who find in this measure a barrier in place of an opportunity. We win all: the manufacturers, because his oils will go out to the market with the value added to be packagings; the hospitality industry, because it will improve his image of quality and service, and the consumer, because, finally, will be able to identify what is eating , as it already occurs with the immense majority of the products of autoservicio in bars and restaurants.

The key is in knowing which are the interests to be able to defend them as it had to in Europe. In my opinion, it is necessary to abandon the production like axis around the that has turned almost exclusively the debate of the sector in the EU to centre us in litigating for improving the commercialisation. Only like this we will advance in our main challenge: improve the profitability for the agriculturalist. Already I have referred me before to the leadership, in what think that are leaders and in what no.

Think that it would be necessary to deepen in the perception that the consumer has of the product. We have to ensure us that it knows what supposes to purchase an extra, a virgin or an olive, the real value of what buys, his different uses and the fan of possibilities that offers him the market. It is necessary to inform to the consumer so that his decisions answer to true criteria and no to the on duty interests of the intermediaries between these and the producers. And of course increase the promotion to increase the consumption to the rhythm that the production. To organisational level, is indispensable and ineludible the concentration of the offer, and by this senda go walking from does years.