Two Spanish citrus fruit growers and suppliers – Guillem Export and Frutas Tono – have merged.

The founding Guillem and Vercher families of both businesses in Valencia will manage the combined company, which will have a total annual capacity of more than 200 million kilograms spread across oranges, mandarins, grapefruit and lemons farmed on 3,000 hectares of land.

Most of the cultivation and production takes place in Valencia, although other farms are situated in Seville, Córdoba, Huelva, Murcia and Tarragona.

Guillem Export, based in Xeresa, was founded in 1997 and employs 1,200 people, producing around 130m kilos of citrus a year.

President Fernando Guillem said: “This operation is key to advancing the growth strategy implemented in recent years after the integration of the commercial branch of Frutas Romu, the acquisition of Mugui (Guillem Muñoz) and now the merger with Tono.”

Spanish investment company Grupo Atitlan acquired Frutas Romu in 2019, while Guillem Export bought the Mugui Group in 2021. Just Food has approached the citrus grower to confirm if the investor still has some involvement in the business.

Both Guillem Export and Frutas Tono have been investing in digital technologies, automation and facility improvements, according to the statement, as the combined business seeks to engage in year-round citrus cultivation.

Frutas Tono, set up in the late 1970s in Benifairó, Valencia, farms 1,000 hectares and employs 1,500 staff. The company supplies countries in the European Union and also China. Guillem Export, meanwhile, serves 26 different markets.

Antonio Vercher, its president and the third-generation of the family running the company, said: “Both families want to thank our customers and employees for all their support to continue growing and consolidate ourselves as a benchmark group in the sector.”