Monica Moncusi
Esplet co-operative, approx 500 hectares of potatoes in the Sa Pobla region of Majorca
The Esplet co-operative is made up of a number of farmers with 25 of them focusing on potato export, producing around 13,000 tonnes. The Sa Pobla region of Majorca with its red clay soil, is a traditional area for potato growing that has been exporting potatoes to the UK since 1924.
Monica has been involved with the co-operative for the past 15 years and works closely Joan Company, Esplets MD.
“The co-operative joined the Branston Producer Group 10 years ago. Before this we focused on supplying Waitrose and M&S, but we were keen to expand and supply to more UK supermarkets. The link with Branston opened the door to Tesco.
“Branston is ‘one of the winners’! In the last 7–8 years we’ve seen a lot of rationalisation, but Branston has survived and prospered. We like the security of Branston buying our product and we also go to them for some of our seed. I would like to see more being done on the marketing side though to help promote the particular attributes of Majorcan potatoes.
“Over the past few years we have been through a period where price is the main issue. This is starting to change and supermarkets are now considering other attributes, leading to product differentiation. We have a competitive product with many excellent attributes and I believe that this is going to be a great benefit for the future.”
