It all started in the bathtub. 40 years ago, Joaquim Tugas began experimenting at home with how to grow sprouts, the first phase of plant growth, when all vitamins, proteins, minerals, and amino acids are concentrated. He was a farmer in Sant Climent de Llobregat and was looking for new business avenues, with the fields affected by weather variability and giving him little margin. He had already been a pioneer in introducing new products such as wild strawberries, lettuce hearts, and kiwis, which had allowed him to save up to dare to do something bigger. He had seen that this food was widely used in China, with many more benefits than the adult plant. "It's a similar process to what is done with beans in school," explains his son, Quim Tugas, second generation of Germinados Tugas. From his father's first tests to producing between 6,000 and 10,000 kilos a week of mung bean sprouts, the variant they began to plant, also known as green soy, and which has become one of their best-selling products.
Chinese restaurants were the first customers of Germinados Tugas, although back then there weren't as many as there are now. "It was very difficult to sell because nobody knew about it," Quim Tugas recalls. Years went by and more establishments opened and others joined the list, not only Asian ones, expanding to hotel chains and ships. Initially, as a decorative element of dishes, until its nutritional value beyond the aesthetic became established, considering that they have no preservatives or additives and are planted without fertilizers, only with water. The sprouts cultivated by the family business also ended up reaching supermarkets, with a presence in the main chains, such as Bonpreu, Condis, Sorli, Consum, Spar, Ametller Origen, Carrefour, and Alcampo. The Valencian Family Cash has also recently joined.
The Sant Climent field has been replaced by vertical agriculture in an industrial warehouse in the same municipality that has grown over the years, taking over those surrounding it until reaching 4,000 square meters. "We are modern farmers," Quim Tugas summarizes. Throughout all these years, they have expanded their offer beyond mung bean, with alfalfa being their second best-selling product, with a scare last year when a batch contaminated with listeria had to be withdrawn, as warned by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (Aesan). All in all, Germinados Tugas has a total of 16 sprouted references, such as beetroot, broccoli, pea, garlic, cilantro, or onion.
Since last year, the company has strengthened itself by including microgreens in its portfolio, the second growth phase of plants, with a milder flavor compared to sprouts. "It's a growing trend," remarks Quim Tugas, who saw more competitors emerging, especially in Barcelona, but also in nearby Molins de Rei, so he wanted to highlight the commercial network they already have after years in the field of sprouts, very similar to that of microgreens.
2023 also closed with the purchase of the family business CBC, based in Montmeló, an importer and distributor of dehydrated ingredients for the food industry and catering, such as the fried onion that can be found at Ikea and Mercadona. CBC also markets powdered egg, used in bakeries and pastry shops, with a shelf life of one and a half years. For Germinados Tugas, this experience can serve to open a new area, that of powdered sprouts, taking advantage of its distribution network.
After the acquisition of CBC, Germinados Tugas now has a staff of more than 30 workers. Global turnover stood at 12.6 million euros last year, with 2.6 million euros corresponding to Germinados Tugas and the remaining 10 to CBC. After this operation, the amount of which they do not disclose, its CEO indicates that they are studying a new purchase.