sallyg

Hi,

Any advice/ideas to open a small export trading business from Spain to the U.K.?

olivefarmer

Well two strands. Firstly where would you sell the produce in the UK? Wholesale markets for onward sale at local shops? Or would you try for a supermarket chain? If the latter you would need tonegotiate price and regular quantities for quite some time ahead.

Second strand is sourcing products. I am assuming it is fruits rather thanshrubs when you saycitruses. I am guessing that the citrus business is very much like the olive oil business. Lots of small to medium size producers take theirproduce to thelocal co op thatthey are members of. You could talk to their president about surplus produce that theyhavent guaranteed markets for OR your marketwhich might offer them better margins.

At the end of the day it will boil down to have you got the economics right withsufficient margin between buying and selling to cover yourcosts including always having transport available.

It is also seasonal. We have two very productive lemon trees and likewise navel orange tree. Plenty of fruit but none ready. Yesterday ibought a bag oflemons from Mercadona that were from Argentina. So there would be potentially some months where your outgoings like autonomos would be the samebut little income potentially.

mikelincs

There a hundreds of orange groves in Spain where the farmers have to let the oranges fall and rot as they can't sell them, so I suspect that you may well have major difficulties.

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

sallyg

Many thanks for your quick response and if you feel you may have more information on this subject, would be gladly appreciated.

Rosemary

A few years ago there were 4 packing plants in my small town. The two smallest ones closed first and then very recently the largest one also closed, all due to the lack of money to be made in this field. The largest one had their own small lorries to collect the oranges from the fields, employed local people to pack, had very large premises and then had the large lorries to deliver the produce to other counties. Everyone thought that it was a thriving business but it folded due to there being no money in oranges. Now we only have one smallish packing plant which hangs on against the odds, everyone states that it is only a matter of time and that will also close.

I have a lot of friends who have orange groves, none of them are making any money and many of them have gradually given up even trying and only pick them for friends and family to eat.

You will need to have fluent Spanish if you start to negotiate with either the growers or the packing plants. Prices would have to be extremely low to encourage them to change from who they are currently using for transportation. Also you would have to prove reliability because they have probably used the same people for many, many years.

Rosemary

sallyg

Many thanks for your quick response and information.