Global food company Grupo Calvo recorded a turnover of 678 million euros in 2022. This amounts to an increase of 22% with respect to the previous year and an EBITDA figure of 51.6 million euros.
Although total turnover grew substantially compared to 2021, this increase is mainly in response to the partial transfer to the sale price of the higher costs endured by all components of the company’s product portfolio. Particularly sensitive to the rise in prices were the following: tuna; energy, necessary in both production and extraction processes; and oil, both olive and sunflower, due to a historically low harvest of the former, and the war in Ukraine in the case of the latter.
With an average cost increase of 32%, Grupo Calvo experienced a loss in profit margin, having decided against passing on the entire cost increase to the final consumer. This margin loss in production and marketing activity was partially offset by the strong performance of the fleet unit during the year.
In 2022, Grupo Calvo sold 100,357 tons of finished product worldwide. Brazil continued to be the company’s main market in terms of volume, followed by Spain and Italy.
Grupo Calvo’s CEO, Mané Calvo, underscored the tremendous effort made by the company to keep price increases in check. “2022 was a year marked by inflation and rising production costs. In keeping with our commitment to continuous improvement, we have strived to make our processes more efficient, thereby containing the increase in costs, which were only partially transferred to the price. Though complex, the year was also abundant with learnings for everyone,” he stated.
2022 also saw the consolidation of the new Vuelca Fácil (Easy Flip) packaging in Spain. Launched in Spain in 2021, this innovative way of packing, producing and consuming tuna more conveniently and sustainably received numerous awards throughout the year. Noteworthy among them is having been named the year’s most successful innovative product by Kantar, the Genio award for best innovation in product design, and the Ecodesign award conferred at the National Conference on the Environment.
