The portuguese poultry which worth gold

Portugal can be proud of having in its territory the largest family economic group in the agrifood sector and one of the largest in Europe - the Valouro Group. The group's history goes back to 1875 with a poultry trading company launched by Manuel dos Santos. The management of the Valouro Group is now assumed by José António and António José dos Santos, Manuel dos Santos' great-nephews who, under the age of 20, revolutionized the great-uncle's business with innovative ideas and a watchful eye on every opportunity.

The soul of this business is… at Marteleira

We were in the mid-50s when the twin brothers José António and António José dos Santos arrived from Marteleira, in Lourinhã, in Lisbon, to enter the old Afonso Domingues Industrial School, in Marvila. Hosted at the home of a family member, Manuel dos Santos, who owned the family poultry business, in operation since 1875, the brothers quickly rushed to help their great-uncle in selling birds at the counter at the then Mercado da Praça da FIG tree. Chickens and turkeys entered the daily lives of twin brothers who did not take long to have their first big ideas and to identify the best opportunities for the growth of the business that would occupy the rest of their lives.

One of these great opportunities arises in 1966, when the Santos family participates in a competition to supply the Portuguese poultry army and wins, which leads to the opening, in that same year, of Granja do Oeste, the first poultry slaughter center of the future company (and second private poultry slaughterhouse installed in the Iberian Peninsula). Shortly thereafter, and already showing a constant concern with innovation and the search for cutting edge technologies, the second slaughterhouse that the family would open would already be built with stainless steel, a material that was still little used in Portugal, but that came to revolutionize the food hygiene, safety and quality. After 1974, the business started to shift to other areas and the twin brothers, together with their two older brothers and cousin, decided to form a partnership on April 25th. They go to the Lourinhã registry office at 9 am, when they heard about the revolution that was taking place in Lisbon… and it is on this memorable day that Persuínos is born, the company that later gave birth to Avibom, later to Rações Valouro and for end to the Valouro Group. As of this date, there is a real turning point for the company, through the modernization of techniques, means and lines of business.

In 1978, with the objective of guaranteeing the quality of poultry feed, the group's first feed factory was born in the homeland of the twin brothers, in Marteleira, Lourinhã, where the headquarters of most of the Group's companies are located, and which gave rise to the name Valouro, a “golden valley” with an extreme natural wealth that brought together the perfect conditions for the production of feed. Subsequently, the group opens a second feed factory in Ramalhal, in Torres Vedras, served by rail, which provided it with competitiveness along the feed path. Rações Valouro has nutritional solutions for animal feed in the manufacture and marketing of premixtures and compound feeds for chickens, poultry, turkeys, ducks, quails, breeding hens, laying hens, dairy and fattening cattle, sheep, pigs , rodents and other species.

Two very high flights for chickens, ducks and turkeys

After completing these important steps, the time came, in 1986, to verticalize the group's activity, moving towards the production of hatching eggs and day-old chicks through the creation of the Agricultural Society Quinta Freiria, in the context of which the Pinto Valouro brand was born. , which today produces three million day-old chicks and about 70,000 ducks and 70,000 turkeys a week. On this farm, located in Bombarral, in addition to animal production, which includes poultry breeding (chickens, ducks and turkeys) and poultry meat production, the group also develops agricultural and forestry production. The quail incubation, fattening and slaughtering process, on the other hand, is carried out by another Group company, Interaves, located in Alenquer, which produces around 250 thousand quails per week, among other poultry and poultry meat, which is one of the main focuses Group's exports. From the hatchery, the day-old chicks follow the direct path from the market or from the fattening pavilions, where they stay for five to seven weeks until they reach the recommended weight for the market. The Sociedade Agrícola Quinta Freiria received the certification seals in the row of ducks and chickens, thus proving the fulfillment of the requirements of biosafety, environmental and animal welfare.

After 14 years, the opportunity arises to implement an integrated agricultural system at Herdade da Daroeira, in Santiago do Cacém, which is today one of the largest poultry, agricultural and industrial production units in the European Union, where agricultural activities are carried out and more than 15 million chickens a year, in addition to the company's other visionary businesses, such as Freitifreiria, the production of sterilized natural organic fertilizers from the composting unit located on this farm. In this agro-industrial complex there is also a feed manufacturing unit that is used to feed these animals, which, in turn, absorbs the annual production of corn - around 15 thousand tons - that the Valouro Group directly produces on this farm. But another 15 thousand tons of corn are needed to meet the dietary needs of this poultry park. In the same 90's, the Group also acquired a brand that will enhance a specific area of ​​the business, Kilom, in addition to being an excellent example of the modernization and growth effort that the Group promotes in all companies. Kilom offers consumers diverse and comprehensive product solutions ranging from traditional chicken cuts and poultry cuts, to useful and always available pre-cooked cuts, to comfortable and delicious ready-to-eat products.

Source: http://empresasmais.pt/online/as-aves-portuguesas-que-valem-ouro/