The company has opened its new automated factory, in which it has invested over 36 million euros, where the advances are focused on maximising potato quality, along with the company’s efficiency and sustainability.
It is worth mentioning that the installations in this new factory, designed to give a quick response to clients’ requirements, are formulated to treat the potatoes as if they were fruit and to protect them, at all times, from any mechanical damage.
Amongst the most significant innovations, we must mention the introduction of optical selectors, which classify the potatoes by size, shape and quality in a single process; the anthropomorphic robots, thanks to which the packaging production capacity has been increased; the implementation of a smart warehouse with a capacity of nearly 1,000 boxes weighing 800 kilos each, which represents an increase of over 700% compared to the current storage; as well as greater energy exploitation and optimisation of the water cycle.
The event was presided over by Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, President of the Regional Government of Castilla y León, and it took place on the premises of the production factory. Additionally, the company invited Marc Vidal, an expert lecturer on digital transformation, as special collaborator in the event.
This institutional opening ceremony included, amongst many other celebrities, the presence of the abovementioned President of the Regional Government of Castilla y León; representatives from the Hungarian Embassy in Spain; Virginia Barcones, the Spanish National Government representative; Jesús Julio Carnero, the Regional Minister for the Presidency of the Regional Government of Castilla y León; Gerardo Dueñas Merino, the Regional Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development; Guzmán Gómez Alonso, the Mayor of Medina del Campo; and Conrado Íscar Ordóñez, the President of the Regional Council of Valladolid.
“Today is a special day for me: the opening of this factory with 4.0 Industrial technology marks a before and after in the history of Patatas Meléndez. When I decided to carry out this project, it was because I place my complete trust in the potato sector, which is prosperous, and in all the potential brought by Castilla y León and, more specifically, Medina del Campo, the town where the company was born and that I want to continue supporting. This factory is a synonym of future, of technology and innovation, but also of origin, of crop continuity and generational handover,” Javier Meléndez, CEO of Patatas Meléndez, affirmed.
Furthermore, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, the President of the Regional Government of Castilla y León, alluded to all the benefits brought to the Autonomous community by the fact that Patatas Meléndez’s production factory is going to be positioned as a reference in Europe. “Patatas Meléndez is a company that stands out for its invoicing and for its expansion to other countries such as France and Portugal, but, above all, for working in a different way with the farmers and for having deployed an Agricultural Plan which gives them stability. This land is proud to be the home of the most up-to-date factory in Europe.”
