Gallo invests 15 million in Granollers to enter the broth market

Gallo has just completed an investment of 15 million euros in its production complex in Granollers (Barcelona) that will allow it to enter the business of packaged broths and compete with other leading Catalan brands such as Gallina Blanca, Aneto, and El Pavo. The market leader in dry pasta takes another step in its diversification strategy and bets on new segments that contribute to the growth of the group which, since 2019, belongs to the investment fund ProA Capital.

The new broth plant in tetra brick has a production capacity of 140,000 liters of broth per day and allows the completion of the industrial plan activated by ProA Capital after taking control of the company founded by the Espona family and which has focused on specializing each of the group's four production centers, which, with the new shareholder, has also grown with the purchase of the Asian food company Ta-Tung.

"With this investment, Gallo takes a decisive step in the objective of maintaining its role as a leading company in industrial innovation," highlights the company, which points out that entering prepared broths "represents a transcendental step towards the concept of transversality that the company began in 2019, uniting pasta with new complementary categories that would incentivize its consumption: fork pasta with sauces and now soup pasta with natural broth."

The new broth has been marketed since last November under the brand Caldo natural Gallo and can already be found in El Corte Inglés and in supermarket chains such as Caprabo, Bon Preu, Carrefour, and Alcampo. Currently, four varieties are produced: chicken broth, chicken broth with ham, vegetable broth, and stew.

The specialization process of the factories meant that the historic center of Granollers stopped producing long and short dry pasta, an activity that was concentrated in the Andalusian plant of El Carpio (Córdoba). In the capital of Vallès Oriental, the production of flat pasta was maintained, that is, the sheets for making cannelloni and lasagna; and also the fresh pasta and ready meals division. Now, the production complex, where a hundred people work, is expanded with a "European-leading" broth plant, which has adopted "its own and exclusive industrial technology, conceived and developed by the Gallo Group's R&D team." "This disruptive project also represents a commitment to the company's digitalization," highlights Gallo, which assures that with these facilities they "will transform the broth market in Spain."

"It is a revolution that poses a challenge for us at a logistical, technological, and human level, while positioning the Granollers plant as a spearhead within the company's growth strategy, leading its first digitalization project," explains Montserrat Tort, director of the Barcelona industrial plant.

Gallo aims to gain market share from the big brands that currently lead the sector, headed by the family group GBfoods, owner of Gallina Blanca and which has redoubled its commitment to this business with the launch of the packaged broth El Pavo. The other major operator ---without taking into account white labels--- is Aneto, owned by the also Catalan family group Adam Foods.

"Gallo has the ambition to achieve a relevant position in this category with high growth potential," underlines the group, which assures that its broth "is the most natural on the market" and is made only "with fresh ingredients from local producers." The packaging is a fully recyclable tetra brick, with 87% of the material of plant origin and featuring a sugar cane cap instead of plastic.

In Catalunya, Gallo has two other production centers located in Sant Vicenç dels Horts, where the Ta-Tung Asian ready meals plant is located, and in Esparreguera, where gluten-free pasta is manufactured, as well as a new type of pasta made with legumes (peas, chickpeas, and lentils).

With a turnover of 184 million in 2021, Gallo controls a market share close to 35% in dry pasta, 29% in sauces, and 16% in flours.