AGRICULTURE

We cultivate with conscience.

From the earth to the plate, we believe in the food cycle, and that we can have a greater impact when we ensure the entire production process of our food.

From the land to the mill, from the mill to the plate, we managed to develop complete and sustainable production cycles.

We rolled up our sleeves to work with sunflowers, peanuts, seeds and grains. Along the way, we cultivated much more than that.

We created relationships and partnerships that grew with us and took us far beyond Portugal: they helped us reach the whole world. We have managed to establish ourselves in countries such as Spain, Brazil, the United States, Russia, Ukraine, the Middle East, Morocco and Tunisia. And we want to throw our seeds into the wind to reach further and further.

We explore fields and rebuild factories. We have 7,000 hectares of olive groves, mostly in Portugal.

In partnership with Nutrifarms, Sovena's agricultural division, the estates and mills are managed with great respect for natural resources and with the most innovative and sustainable techniques to obtain excellent products. Our entire production process follows the highest standards of quality and control, from the field to the mill.

We know exactly the fate of each olive, each grain. Everything is transformed in our productions, we follow nature's example, we transform leftovers into new resources.

We act with environmental responsibility, reducing the impact of the activities we develop, through efficient management of energy, waste and by-products that we generate.

How we plant and produce our food:

We believe in new possibilities and in discovering new techniques to achieve them.

Olive groves

For more than 10 years we have specialized in the installation and management of modern irrigated olive groves. We continuously study and test new techniques and production systems to improve the quality of our products and the efficiency in the use of resources.

We work with constant and precise monitoring of the estates and use drip irrigation systems that allow us to increase and stabilize production. We can thus help grow more varieties and increase the efficiency of harvesting and pruning through mechanization.

Currently, in partnership with Nutrifarms, we explore olive groves in canopies and olive groves in hedgerows, according to the land we are cultivating - from relief to sun exposure, all elements can make a difference in the future of our food. The differences between olive groves in the canopy and olive groves in the hedge are the planting density and the precocity of the production capacity.

The olive groves use the most efficient and sustainable techniques and all farms are monitored from planting to harvest. The fields are cultivated with conscience, from the soil to the plate.

We work to preserve natural resources, especially water, soil and biodiversity. All our properties in Portugal are certified in Integrated Production and, at the moment, we are converting part of our olive groves into Organic Agriculture. Our properties in Portugal also have an Efficient Water Use certificate.

We manage this production with our feet on the ground, where we have 10 million olive trees planted in the Alentejo region.

In addition to the agriculture we do there, we explore fields with awareness and respect for nature. We protect and value a natural heritage that we manage to combine with productive and responsible agriculture.

Almond

We started to apply our experience and knowledge in the planting and installation of systems for other permanent irrigated crops.

The almond project started in 2021, with the aim of diversifying our activity and applying our experience and knowledge to other permanent irrigated crops.

Sunflower

We assume a unique and essential commitment: to support, develop and contribute to the sustainable future of sunflowers in the world. That's why we formed a joint venture with Cooperativa ACOR in Spain, and why we became market leaders through AGROPRO.

We believe in proximity and relationships between industry and production. As Spain imports more than it produces, the domestic market can only benefit from this relationship.

We have a Sovena factory in Andújar (Jaén), which is used exclusively for processing sunflowers, where we can grind and refine 260 thousand tons per year. We also have the Brenes factory, where the refining process takes place simultaneously with the olive oil.

Acor owns a mill and refiner in Olmedo (Valladolid), where it is possible to grind and refine around 160 thousand tons of sunflower seeds, as well as rapeseed.

In addition to being close, we want to help our farmers to increase the success of their productions. That's why we partner with Syngenta, a leading company in sunflower genetics. Our farmers can access an exclusive catalog of varieties with good adapted genetics and potential, which eliminate differences in yield and increase harvest profitability, an essential condition for the continuity of production. We provide technical support during the harvest and we always open the option to repurchase the product. This way we can ensure that our farmers reap exactly what they planned to sow.

Above all, we have a Purpose, which we state in our signature: Feeding Futures. We make a point of living up to it by continually improving and perfecting the sustainable cultivation of our food. Our Oleoprecisión project was born to combine technology, specific seeders and drones to define the ideal amount of fertilizers and herbicides for more efficient production.

And we take a step forward with Oleoprecisión 4.0, by adding all the existing technological knowledge to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the sunflower crop.