1.07.2026
Last Friday, 26 June, we officially opened our new pistachio processing plant, a facility already described within the sector as the most advanced pistachio processing plant in Europe. This is no mere cliché: it represents the largest industrial investment we have made to date, and the final link in a business model through which we control the entire pistachio value chain from start to finish.
The opening ceremony was attended by the President of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page; the President of the Cuenca Provincial Council, Álvaro Martínez Chana; and the Regional Government’s representative in Cuenca, Marian López, amongst other officials and representatives from the agri-food sector. This institutional presence confirms the significance of this project, not only for us but for the entire region.
With this plant, we are completing a vertically integrated model on which we have built our growth over the last decade. From genetic improvement and the production of certified plants in the nursery, through the agronomic management of the farms, to the industrial processing and marketing of the final product. With this opening, we bring all these stages together under one corporate roof – something unusual in an international market where pistachios typically come from fragmented supply chains involving multiple intermediaries.
This comprehensive control has a direct benefit for our customers: full traceability. Every batch of pistachios can be traced from the selection of the rootstock in the nursery and the specific cultivation plot, through to the agronomic practices applied, the harvest date, drying and dispatch of the product. This documented guarantee is one we consider increasingly crucial for the food industry and for international markets.
If there is one thing that sets our new processing plant apart, it is our firm commitment to technology. We have incorporated AI-assisted optical sorting systems, laser grading, automatic foreign body detection and digital traceability on a batch-by-batch basis – a suite of solutions that enables us to optimise product quality, reduce wastage and ensure comprehensive control throughout the entire process.
Being close to the region’s main production areas is another key factor for us. We process the produce within 24 hours of harvesting, which helps us preserve the freshness of the fruit whilst enhancing food safety. On a technical level, we have two receiving hoppers, fourteen shelling machines with a capacity of 20,000 kg/h and twelve in-line splitting machines – a setup that places us amongst the most sophisticated pistachio processing plants on the continent.
As Ángel Minaya – CEO of Agróptimum – said: “We are launching Agróptimum’s new industrial phase to meet the market’s enormous demand. Europe is the world’s leading consumer of pistachios and needs a supplier that offers proximity, traceability, quality and guarantees.”
The figures underscore the scale of the project. We have built the plant, covering 7,000 square metres of floor space, on a 100,000-square-metre site, designed to accommodate future expansions. The total investment amounts to 15 million euros, and its phased design will enable us to keep pace with the sector’s growth.
We have opted for a modular design, and this is no minor detail. It will enable us to incorporate new production lines for value-added products in the future, such as creams, pastes, flours and ingredients for the food industry, thereby opening up new business opportunities beyond whole pistachios.
Beyond the technical details, the opening has far-reaching regional significance for us. With this plant, we are transforming Villanueva de la Jara, in the province of Cuenca, into one of the leading industrial centres in Europe’s pistachio sector, and we are reinforcing the role of Castilla-La Mancha as the hub of a booming crop. These new jobs are in addition to the more than 160 direct jobs we already provide in a rural area historically affected by depopulation, thereby helping to retain the local population and create skilled employment where it is most needed.
The President of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, said, “This is an exceptional project; as you grow, so does an entire region.”
During the event, García-Page also announced the appointment of Ángel Minaya as an Honoured Son of Castilla-La Mancha, a recognition that highlights a business career which this year marks its 10th anniversary.
Our growth is not based solely on financial indicators. We have designed the new plant in line with criteria of energy efficiency and responsible resource management, incorporating water recirculation systems, heat recovery in the drying process and the recovery of by-products to minimise the environmental impact of our industrial activity.
This philosophy ties in with the agronomic approach we already apply on our farms, where we combine precision farming, monitoring using artificial intelligence and IoT sensors, and data-driven sectorised irrigation systems – all aimed at maximising productivity per cubic metre of water consumed in the cultivation of pistachios, a crop that is particularly resilient to water scarcity.
We are attending this opening ceremony at a time of strong growth for the sector: Spain now has around 90,000 hectares under pistachio cultivation and a production of around 11,000 tonnes of nuts, with forecasts pointing to 26,500 tonnes by 2030 and 55,000 tonnes by 2035. This growth makes it increasingly necessary to have infrastructure capable of processing the nuts at source, rather than relying on the export of unprocessed raw materials.
With this new plant, we are not only bringing a decade of business development to a close: we are taking a decisive step towards consolidating Spain’s position as one of Europe’s leading players in the pistachio sector, offering the food industry and international markets something that is increasingly scarce and highly valued: proximity, traceability, quality and a guaranteed supply, all produced and processed at source.
18.05.2026
11.05.2026
24.02.2026
24.02.2026