Paso Robles
A previously abandoned cattle farm, established in 1999. Paso Robles is a 170 ha organic banana farm.
Named Paso Robles because it had a beautiful lane through the middle of the farm lined with tropical oaks (Robles). In the process of planting bananas, we made sure that all the native trees were preserved. As a result, we have many trees inside the banana production, creating a natural habitat and corridor for the birds and other animals to move freely through the farm. 100 ha are dedicated to organic bananas, 35 hectares to dairy and cattle, and 35 ha to biodiversity. The waste of the bananas is used as part of the food intake of the cows. The manure produced by the cows is then used for compost.
Bananas
Paso Robles uses the sprinkler irrigation system. It requires bananas to be planted in a hexagon shape. It can up saving 50% more water than the traditional flooding systems and reduced the loss of nutrients from 70% to 30% loss.
Pasadena
Quinta Pasadena was established in 2002. An abandoned 286ha farm, now home to bananas and cattle.
Named Quinta Pasadena, which means “crown of the valley”. The farm was not only large and abandoned, but it also had severe problems, requiring significant investments. To guarantee productivity, we invested a considerable amount in farming technology, such as dikes, drainage and irrigation systems.
Bananas
In Pasadena, we use the drip irrigation system, which means we use double lines. We found it to be one of the most efficient ways to irrigate banana plants, as it guarantees saving up to 70% more water than the traditional flooding systems and only 5% of the soils' nutrients are lost.
Animal Husbandry & Fertilizer (biol)
Since 2020, we have been working on setting up our bio-fermentation factories. With them, we will go from partly producing our own fertiliser to being entirely self-sufficient. Additionally, making these fertilisers also known as “Biol", will improve the soil's fertility and reduce the high amounts of burning fossil fuels that come with the transportation of imported fertilisers. By doing this we are also are reducing waste from the packaging materials such as artificial plastics and cardboard, which also travel hundreds and thousands of miles.
Association Farms
Sharing technical knowledge and experience with our farmers that supply us with their fruit.
These smaller and medium-sized farmers are organised in associations and have their own administration and technical staff. We work very closely together to guarantee the fruit's quality and compliance with the various certification standards.
Internal control & Education
There are weekly inspections by our technical staff, who supervise quality and compliance during days of packing. They visit the fields to evaluate the condition of the plants, irrigation, and disease. We keep records of these visits and advise the farmer if there are any issues. We seek to guarantee that the client receives the fruit in the best possible conditions while training the workers on each client's specific requirements. Where needed, we provide training or advise them to do particular workshops that the government offers for free.
Savid and its internal control staff accompany the producer in their audit processes, supporting them with internal audits, through which the producer is trained on organic production standards, agri-food safety and other international standards. Depending on the farm's climate and location, we do leaf and fruit analyses twice a year for residues, especially for smaller farms with a higher risk of cross-contamination.
It is especially challenging for smaller and medium-sized farms to compete in a global market that works by supply and demand, resulting in prices that do not cover production costs or consider climate change and pandemic constraints.
We are committed to our corporate philosophy of maintaining the highest ethical standards to ensure maintaining the confidence of our customers and the community in which we live.
