The new logistics center of the Southern Gardeners’ Cooperative was handed over in Szentes

Sándor Farkas, the parliamentary state secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and the region’s Fidesz member of parliament, said at the handover ceremony: it is good to see that the government’s “activities aimed at rural development are slowly but surely bearing fruit”. He added that DélKerTÉSZ is the country’s most successful producer and sales cooperative. According to the state secretary, the investment “can be safely considered a milestone with which the cooperative has reached a new level”. The cooperative has been working for two decades to bring together the producers of Szentes and the surrounding area, family farms, and co-entrepreneurs, and to integrate production, he noted. He said that for the implementation of the investment, the company received EU funds for 27 percent of the costs and national funds for 44 percent.

The state secretary said that from 2023 the support system for agricultural investments will be based on the Common Agricultural Policy (KAP)

The purpose of this is to increase the sector’s competitiveness and efficiency. KAP’s strategic plan consists of three parts: economic development interventions, a green element and the package of renewable rural measures. Sándor Nagypéter, the president of DélKerTÉSZ, emphasized in his celebratory speech: the construction of the logistics center is the biggest investment of the cooperative so far. A new era can begin at DélKerTÉSZ, he said. He explained that the company’s sales increased year by year, and this justified the creation of the new logistics center. According to calculations, production could double by the end of 2027 compared to the current level, he added.

The Southern Földi Gardeners’ Cooperative was founded in 2002 and brings together the activities of almost five hundred members

The company is the largest production and sales cooperative in Hungary. Peppers make up the majority of the range, and tomatoes, snake cucumbers, cabbage and Chinese lettuce are also grown. As part of the project, a cold store, a packaging area, a roll and packaging material warehouse, and a loading area were created, with the help of which the logistics and commercial processes of the cooperative are significantly accelerated and automated. By 2029, further HUF 4-5 billion developments are expected at the company.

According to publicly available company data, the net sales of the Délalföldi Gardeners’ Cooperative in 2022 were HUF 21 billion, and a year earlier it was HUF 15.2 million

The company’s profit after tax in 2022 was HUF 141.3 million, while in 2021 the cooperative closed with a profit of HUF 53.9 million. The members of DélKerTÉSZ, who mainly grow tomatoes and peppers, sold 53,300 tons of vegetables last year, which is more than 1,500 tons, almost 3 percent more than the amount in 2021.

MTI