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The president of Grupo Pistacyl, Alfredo Pérez, visited the handball team’s, whose name it carries, training session, the Recoletas Atlético Valladolid Pistacyl second-year cadet trained by the pivot of the blue gladiators, Álvaro Martínez.

Technicians and players from Recoletas Pistacyl and the club’s vice president, Ana Solana, received the president of Grupo Pistacyl on the court at the Huerta del Rey Sports Center before the training session for the cadet team.

The head of the “Pucelano” club dedicated some affectionate words and thanked Pistacyl for the valuable collaboration with the Recoletas youth academy, presenting its president with a game shirt with the company logo.

After the team photo with the staff and directors of Recoletas, Alfredo Pérez gave the attendees some bags of tasty pistachios, a product grown and marketed by this family business from Pozal de Gallinas.

In addition, Alfredo Pérez praised the trajectory of the cadet Recoletas Pistacyl team, which is playing in the Castile and Leon Championship and is currently the undefeated leader in the second phase of the competition in Group I, with 15 points.

Grupo Pistacyl plans to start the project for the construction of modern facilities in the town of Pozal de Gallinas in 2023, where the Pérez Heras family is from, the owners of this company from Valladolid dedicated to the production of pistachio, elaboration of “Desacato” wine from the D.O. Rueda and provision of agricultural services.

This was announced by the president of the group, Alfredo Pérez, during the last session of the cycle “From the field to the industry” held on February 13th at its production plant located in the business incubator of the Diputación de Valladolid in the town of El Carpio, and which was attended by the president of this institution, Conrado Íscar.

Organized by the Valladolid Provincial Council together with the Association of Entrepreneurs of the San Cristóbal Industrial Estate, the last of the meetings was dedicated to pistachio, whose pistachio cultivation continues to gain followers in Castile and Leon and consolidates itself as an alternative to traditional crops in certain regions, especially in the southwest.

The conference brought together a group of farmers and ranchers from the province of Valladolid who were able to see in person the activity and production process of Grupo Pistacyl and later participate in a discussion with the president of the company.

During the talk, Alfredo Pérez narrated his family’s long agricultural tradition, dedicated to the cultivation of beets, and explained how, in the face of the sugar WTO crisis, in 2008 they decided to diversify and start a new line of business by launching Pistacyl, a pioneer company in the cultivation of pistachios in Castile and Leon, and a first planting of 80 trees on half a hectare of land in Moraleja de las Panaderas (Valladolid).

He explained that, since then, and thanks to its firm commitment to innovation and sustainability in cultivation methods, Pistacyl has experienced constant growth and has positioned itself as the main pistachio producer in the Community, with more than 12,000 pistachio trees distributed over 53 hectares along several farms located in the Valladolid towns of Pozal de Gallinas, Moraleja de las Panaderas and Fresno el Viejo.

Pistacyl is also the first company to market pistachio in its natural state, without any type of roasting, salt or any other additive, thus preserving all its nutritional properties.

Since 2021, it has been selling its packaged and bulk pistachio at different points of sale on the national territory and in 2022 it began exporting, with the aim of selling 50 percent of its production in Europe.

In addition, this year it has begun to market pistachios from Castile and Leon with the European seal of organic production and also to produce natural pistachio paste, one more step in its commitment to innovation in the offer of its products.

Alfredo Pérez pointed out that Pistacyl’s objective is to continue expanding the cultivation area in the coming years, as well as the volume of pistachio processed, which this year has exceeded 27,000 kilos of dry pistachios, 50 percent more than the previous campaign.

After thanking the Valladolid Provincial Council and its business incubator for their support, he indicated that, given these growth forecasts, Grupo Pistacyl’s plans include the construction of modern storage warehouses and a processing plant in Pozal de Gallinas.

The purpose is to have extensive facilities that allow all the group’s activity to be concentrated there, which also includes the production of wine with the Rueda Denomination of Origin, which it markets under the Desacato brand, and the provision of agricultural viticulture services, cultivation of pistachio and forest through Agrícola Pistacyl.

For his part, the president of the Valladolid Provincial Council valued the work of Pistacyl to open up new opportunities through an alternative crop to traditional crops and highlighted “the support of the provincial institution for this project through SODEVA and the Polígono Industrial y del Vivero de El Carpio, which demonstrates that the work carried out by the Provincial Institution through the Society makes sense and is necessary work to guarantee that projects like this remain in our towns”.

Conrado Íscar took advantage of the visit to take stock of the 8 meetings ‘From the field to the industry’, a balance that he described as “very positive, so much so that it has exceeded the initial objectives”.

In this sense, he recalled that the purpose of these meetings has been to “promote dialogue between the different links in the value chain of the agri-food sector, facilitate dialogue between farmers and ranchers with different processing industries in the province, convinced that producers and industry have to go hand in hand.

But, in addition to fulfilling this first objective, the meetings have allowed the Provincial Council to “gather first-hand information on the needs and concerns of the different professional sectors, which will allow us to help as much as possible so that the sector, essential to the rural development of our province, can continue to generate employment, maintain the economy and settle the population in rural areas”.

Finally, Conrado Íscar thanked the Association of Entrepreneurs of the San Cristóbal Industrial Estate for their collaboration in carrying out this cycle of meetings, as well as the availability of the companies that have participated in them.

“Without the complicity of Huercasa, Deovino, Fertifluid Fertilizantes, ACOR, Patatas Meléndez, Bodega Diez Siglos, Entrepinares and Pistacyl, it would not have been possible to carry out these meetings, which have also served us to corroborate the great power of the agricultural and agri-food industry in the province.”, he concluded.

The products made by Grupo Pistacyl have been very well received at Basquisite 2023, the gourmet show held on the 30th and 31^st of January in San Sebastián and at which the company from Valladolid participated with its own stand.

In this space the group has presented the “Pistacyl Pistachio Paste” 100% natural, an innovation that was highly appreciated by the visitors of this event, a professional audience made up of distributors, importers and professionals from the field of hospitality, both national and international.

It has also shown the qualities of the pistachio that it grows in its plantations in Valladolid and that has recently obtained the organic production seal, being highly valued especially by foreign visitors for its size, aroma, color and flavor.

The Pistacyl pistachio was also a main ingredient in the menu prepared by chef Iñigo Lavado for the Hosted Buyers who attended Basquisite 2023 and which included the dish called Lamb in skirts on a pistachio meadow.

Likewise, the Desacato wine produced by the company under the Rueda Denomination of Origin has also been present at this show, to which Grupo Pistacyl has brought a preview of the 2023 vintage, also causing a very good impression among the Basquisite public.

Grupo Pistacyl has launched a new innovative product made from the pistachio that it grows in Castile and Leon and that it markets in its natural state.

It is the “Pistacyl Pistachio Paste” one hundred percent natural, made without adding any type of preservative, coloring, oil or sugar from unroasted pistachio, thus avoiding subjecting the product to high temperatures that deteriorate the mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids, characteristic of this fruit.

Along with these unique characteristics, another of the particularities of the “Pistacyl Pistachio Paste” is its manufacturing process, which is carried out by grinding the natural peeled pistachio in a stone mill and in three different phases over time, so that the dry fruit does not suffer temperature changes that alter its natural qualities, flavour and nutritional properties.

The main purpose of this pistachio paste is its use in the hospitality sector, mainly for the preparation of ice cream and nougat and other confectionery products, and also as an ingredient in cooking recipes in which this dried fruit is present.

Soon, Grupo Pistacyl also plans to sell it directly to the final consumer in smaller packages, so that anyone can buy this pistachio paste to make their own desserts or dishes at home.

This innovation will be presented by the Pistacyl Group at Basquisite 2023, the gourmet products show held on January 30^th and 31^st in San Sebastián, and in which the company will participate with a stand that will also present the qualities of the pistachio grown in Castile and Leon, a unique dry fruit due to its size, aroma, color and flavor, and which it has already begun to market with the organic production seal, after obtaining the European certificate that accredits that its processing method follows the community regulations in all its stages.

Pioneer in the cultivation of pistachio in Castile and Leon through innovative methods and the use of new technologies, Pistacyl has established itself as the main producer of this nut in the Autonomous Region, with a production that in 2022 exceeded 27,000 kilos of dried pistachio.

Grupo Pistacyl will also take advantage of its presence at Basquisite 2023 to present importers and distributors with a preview of the 2023 vintage of its Desacato wine, made through the natural alcoholic fermentation of one hundred percent Verdejo grape must and under the protection of the Rueda Denomination of Origin.

With a limited edition of 45,000 bottles, this wine has been made since 2021 from grapes grown in its own vineyards located in the Valladolid towns of Fresno el Viejo and Pozal de Gallinas, obtaining a Silver Medal at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2022.

The company Pistacyl has obtained the certification that accredits that its production process meets all the requirements established in Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council, from May the 30^th, 2018, for organic production and labeling of products.

In this way, Pistacyl will be able to start marketing pistachios from Castile and Leon with this European stamp, which certifies that its production method complies with Community regulations at all stages, including the preparation and distribution of the dried fruit.

To obtain this certificate, the Pistacyl production plant located in the Valladolid town of Carpio underwent a rigorous evaluation and inspection process of its production control system and production process by SAI Global auditors, who have issued the corresponding certificate of conformity that guarantees compliance with the aforementioned regulation.

Pioneer in the cultivation of pistachio in Castile and Leon through innovative methods and the use of new technologies, Pistacyl has established itself as the main producer of this nut in the Autonomous Community, with a production that in 2022 exceeded 27,000 kilos of dried pistachio.

The company, which belongs to Grupo Pistacyl, is also the first company to market natural pistachios, which distributes them packaged and in bulk at different points of sale throughout the country, such as El Corte Inglés, Agropal, Gadis and Casa Elías supermarkets, and also through the Tierra de Sabor online store.

In addition, since 2022 it also has a presence in the markets of Ireland, France, Portugal and Italy and its forecast is to export 50 percent of its production, mainly to Europe.

Grupo Pistacyl was one of the entities that collaborated with the second edition of the 24-Hour Solidarity Challenge organized by Comercial Ulsa in favor of the Multiple Sclerosis Association of Valladolid.

Nearly 300 runners took part in this event, which lasted from 1:00 p.m. on December the 3rd to 1:00 p.m. on December 4 the 4th, for which they had the strength provided by the Pistacyl pistachio that was included in the goody bag that was delivered to each participant.

Despite the intense cold registered in those days, with temperatures below zero at night, the test was a success both in participants and in funds raised, which will go entirely to help the work carried out by the Multiple Sclerosis Association of Valladolid.

This entity assists nearly 500 members who suffer from this degenerative disease that affects the central nervous system and of which 2,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in our country.

Led by the athlete Javier del Campo ‘Chester’, the second edition had the participation of the runner from Zamora Josico Manso who, accompanied by the ultra-long distance runner David Ontaneda, covered 193 kilometers, nine more than in the first edition, doing 430 laps on the runnning tracks of the Valladolid Sports Complex, whose renovation was inaugurated with this solidarity challenge.

The mayor of Valladolid, Óscar Puente, and the Councilor for Sports of the Valladolid City Council, Alberto Bustos, also toured the circuit at the opening of the event, which closed with the participation of the president of the Valladolid Provincial Council, Conrado Íscar.

In addition to Grupo Pistacyl, the Comercial Ulsa 24-hour Challenge had the collaboration of the Real Sociedad Hípica de Valladolid, Caja Rural de Soria, Huercasa, Helios, Bimbo, Playfit, Exialoe, Quicas Burgos, the Valladolid Municipal Sports Foundation and Runvasport.

The Pistacyl pistachio and our Desacato wine were present on November the 26th at the See you movember event organized by Buther Brothers, the group of volunteers from Valladolid created to support the Movember movement aimed at raising awareness about men’s health issues.

The party took place in the Andén 47 and brought together a good number of friends who were able to enjoy a tasting of products such as Huercasa beets with pistachio, Cañarejal cheese, La Deliciosa bread, dishes from Eh Voilà and Le Bistró and the excellent sweets from Da Silva Gastronomy, all accompanied by our Desacato Verdejo wine.

The event also featured music from The Magnificats and dances from the Fresas con Nata urban dance school team.

The proceeds from ticket sales for this event have been donated entirely to the Movember Foundation, an international charity committed to promoting a happier, healthier and longer life for men.

The company Pistacyl has increased the volume of harvested pistachio in Castile and Leon by 50 percent during the 2022 campaign.

In total, the company has closed the season with more than 27,000 kilos of dry pistachio, which also has a good quality both in size and in its organoleptic characteristics, due to the favorable weather conditions registered throughout this winter and spring and , especially, to the innovations that Pistacyl has introduced in the cultivation methods of its pistachios since its beginnings.

In this way, Pistacyl continues to consolidate itself as the main pistachio producer in Castile and Leon and a pioneer in the cultivation of this nut in the region, an activity that began in 2008 with a first plantation of 80 trees on half a hectare of land in Moraleja de las Panaderas (Valladolid).

The company, which belongs to Grupo Pistacyl, currently has 53 hectares with more than 12,000 pistachio trees distributed across various farms located in the Valladolid towns of Pozal de Gallinas, Moraleja de las Panaderas and Fresno el Viejo, and its objective is to continue expanding the cultivation area in future years.

Pistacyl is also the first company to market pistachio in its natural state, without any type of roasting, salt or any other additive, thus preserving all its nutritional properties.

Since 2021, it has been selling its packaged and bulk pistachios at different points of sale throughout the national territory, such as the El Corte Inglés, Agropal, Gadis and Casa Elías supermarkets, and also through the Tierra de Sabor online store.

In addition, in 2022, the export of this dried fruit to Ireland, France, Portugal and Italy began and it also established the first commercial contacts to be able to sell its pistachio in Japan and in other foreign markets. Its forecast is to export 50 percent of its production, mainly to Europe.

With the aim of improving the cultivation method and the quality of its pistachio, Pistacyl has been putting faith in R&D since its beginnings, developing to date 7 research projects with organizations such as the CDTI, ITACYL, the University of Valladolid and Valladolid Provincial Council, aimed at optimizing the water resources necessary for its production through the use of new technologies and developing new products derived from this dried fruit, such as pistachio oil, flour and paste.

All this vast experience and knowledge have enabled Pistacyl to set up a highly specialized Advisory Service on pistachio production, which covers the tree planting phase, selection of the variety and cultivation process of this nut, maintenance of harvesting and harvesting.

In order to share its innovative experience in pistachio cultivation, Grupo Pistacyl was invited to participate in the II International Course on Design, Management and Innovation in Irrigation organized by the General Subdirectorate of Irrigation, Natural Paths and Rural Infrastructures of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to promote knowledge about processes that favor better water management.

The president of the group, Alfredo Pérez, was in charge of giving a presentation on October 27 to the participants in the course, 43 technicians from rural areas from 10 countries in Europe, America and Africa, in which he presented some of the projects that the company has been developing to improve pistachio cultivation and optimize the use of water resources.

In his speech, Alfredo Pérez, narrated how since its inception, Pistacyl has opted for research to determine which variety of pistachio and cultivation techniques were the most suitable for Castile and Leon. Thus, he recalled that between 2010 and 2012 the company developed a first R&D&I project with the endorsement of the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) and the technical collaboration of the Castile and Leon Agrarian Technological Institute (Itacyl ).

This project, the first investigation of these characteristics that was carried out in Spain, consisted of the analysis of the behavior of rootstocks of the main pistachio varieties that exist in the world that were subjected to different planting systems, treatments and cultivation techniques to verify its results in the development and growth of trees, productivity, resistance to pests and diseases and water stress.

Alfredo Pérez also detailed another innovative study that Grupo Pistacyl is currently developing to parameterize pistachio cultivation through the use of drones and sensors and that, among other objectives, is allowing to know relevant factors to improve its production, such as true water needs that the pistachio tree has and its yield depending on the irrigation received.

He also referred to the pioneering harvest digitalization project in which the group is immersed and with which a detailed yield map of each of the vines of the plot can be drawn in real time to determine the specific treatments, fertilization and amount of irrigation that are necessary to apply in each of them. With this, it will be possible to improve productivity and favor sustainability also in the cultivation of the vine.

In his presentation, Alfredo Pérez explained that in addition to the production and marketing of its own pistachio, Grupo Pistacyl offers a specialized advisory service in the cultivation of this dried fruit with which “we want to contribute our grain of sand so that they do not commit the same mistakes as us. We have worked a lot and invested a lot in research for it,” he added.

However, he warned about the exaggerated expectation that has arisen around the cultivation of this dried fruit, which has come to be known as the new “green gold”. In this sense, he assured that it is necessary to be prudent, to be informed and to analyze the

investments in detail, “since they are for more than 20 years”.

Framed within the MAPA Continuing Training Plan 2022, the II International Course on Design, Management and Innovation in Irrigation takes place from March 28 to November 15 in online format with the aim of promoting better water management and sustainable irrigation that contribute to promoting rural development.

The implementation of new information and communication technologies (ICT), the more and more widespread use of big data and the Internet of Things (IOT) in irrigation management, as well as the use of drones and their incorporation into the BIM methodology, they play a transcendental role, as instruments to help decision-making in the management of irrigation systems, which makes it necessary to train technicians with a specific profile to exploit and improve said systems.

Hence, the fundamental axes of the course are the commitment to innovation, digitalization in irrigation and water governance, referring to the political, economic, social and administrative framework.

The innovative products that Pistacyl is developing from the natural pistachio that it grows are the protagonists in the fifth issue of the “Food of the Future” collection published by the Association of the Food Industry of Castile and Leon (Vitartis), which Pistacyl is a part of.

This biennial collection is an ambitious editorial project launched by Vitartis in 2012, with the aim of publicizing the innovative spirit of the food industry in Castilla y León by explaining specific cases by the entities themselves.

In the 2022 issue of “Future Foods”, Pistacyl shows its innovative vocation, one of the cornerstones of the group that, since its origins, has been promoting different research projects aimed at obtaining a unique pistachio for its size, aroma, colour and flavor, and to develop new products derived from this dried fruit that stand out for their qualities and characteristics.

Thus, the publication includes its latest innovation, the “Pistacyl Pistachio Paste”, as well as two other culinary innovations based on this dried fruit, such as natural pistachio flour and oil.

Throughout its 140 pages, “Future Food 2022” exposes 46 cases of innovation by 33 food industries associated with Vitartis, three technology centers (Cartif, Itacyl and Cetece) and the corresponding departments of three universities: Salamanca, Burgos and the Pontificia de Comillas, through Inea.

In addition to Grupo Pistacyl, the other 32 Vitartis member companies that explain their respective innovation projects are: Acor, Agropal, Aljomar, Alma Carraovejas, Angulas Aguinaga, Azucarera, Campelo, Campofrío Frescos, César Nieto, Cuatro Rayas, Efi Higiene, Grupo Entrepinares, Frías, Gambafresh, Gaza, Gullón, Helios, Huercasa, Ibsa, Innoporc, Jamones Blázquez, Lactiber, Lesaffre, Matarromera, Miguel Vergara, Moreno Sáez, Patatas Meléndez, Pharmadus, Santiveri, Tecelec, Uvesa and Yllera.

The publication also includes a panel of experts who analyze the particular economic and financial situation in which the agri-food sector must compete, as well as issues related to new consumer trends, the impact of new technologies in the sector or the latest advances in market prospecting.

The authors of these analysis and reflections are Carlos Ruiz Fonseca, Director of Studies at the Institute of Economic Studies (IEE); Cristina Matesanz Cuevas, consultant and founder of Vectis; Francisco J. Jariego Fente, Ph.D. in Physical Sciences and expert in ICT, innovation

and digital economy; Javier Romera Sánchez, editor-in-chief of El Economista and director of Ecoretail; Jordi Guix Llopis, strategic consultant, brand planning, insights & analytics; José Miguel Soriano Luceno, partner of Andersen; Lourdes Martín Mangas, technical director of Sustainability and Climate Change at SGS; Mario Tascón Ruiz, managing partner of Prodigioso Volcán; and Raúl Ortega González, Territorial Director of Cajamar.

“Future Foods 2022” was presented on October 19 at an event held in Valladolid, with the participation of the president of Vitartis, Pedro Ruiz Aragoneses, the president of Cajamar , Eduardo Baamonde; and the director of R&D at Archer Daniels and CEO of Biópolis, Daniel Ramón.