Grupo Pistacyl has been awarded the 2024 Business Initiatives Award in the Consolidated Company category, during the 8th Gala held on October 3 at the headquarters of the Cortes of Castilla y León in Valladolid.
With this award, the Business Initiatives Association recognizes this family group as a “business example to follow” by other entrepreneurs, given its successful track record since the start-up of its first pistachio plantation in 2008 to currently positioning itself as the main producer of this dried fruit in Castilla y León.
In addition to this growth, the jury has also valued other factors such as the roots of the company, which maintains its headquarters in the town of Pozal de Gallinas (Valladolid), where the family is from, and with activity in other towns in the rural area; the commitment and social responsibility that it has demonstrated through sports sponsorship and various social initiatives, and the receipt of other previous recognitions.
In fact, last year, Grupo Pistacyl received the Innovation Award at the Agri-Food Innovation Awards of the brand “Alimentos de Valladolid. A gusto de todos”, convened by the Provincial Council of Valladolid, and previously, it had already been awarded with the Innovative SME Seal of the Ministry of Science and Innovation (2021), the Rural Business Innovation Award (2017) and the second Award for Innovative Projects for self-employed workers and rural SMEs in the province of Valladolid (2021).
The area director for Valladolid and Palencia of Laboral Kutxa, Eva Morón, was in charge of presenting the award to the president of Grupo Pistacyl, Alfredo Pérez, who said that it is an honour that the jury has distinguished this company, given the quality of the other two finalists in this candidacy for the awards, Granja de Desarrollo Ovino AGM and Canorme Producciones.
He also expressed his gratitude to his family for “trusting this project”.
Before announcing the decision, a video presentation of the candidates was shown in which Alfredo Pérez explained how the Pérez Heras family decided to grow pistachios in response to the crisis in the sugar sector, a crop to which they were previously dedicated.
He also recalled that since its beginnings, Pistacyl has been developing different R&D projects in collaboration with different technological centres such as ITACyL and with the universities of Valladolid, León and Ávila to improve cultivation and produce new products derived from pistachios.
“We have opted for a natural product, to take advantage of all the healthy properties of pistachios, and we have been the first company in Castilla y León to achieve the mention of healthy on its label,” he stressed.
Along with Grupo Pistacyl, the companies Insectropía (New Initiative), Sociograph Neuromarketing (Young Initiative), Grupo Alimentario Campos de Castilla 1986 (Rural Initiative) and The4DScanner (Innovation) were also awarded.
Second prizes were also awarded to the companies Dulces Galicia and Fisiomer.
The Business Initiatives awards aim to promote and recognise the work of first-generation business owners, entrepreneurs or self-employed workers, as well as to stimulate self-employment as a professional outlet, and to encourage motivation and entrepreneurial vocation.
These awards are organised by the Business Initiatives Association, founded and formed by entrepreneurs who have created their companies from scratch, making it their way of life.