Mercadona’s ready-meal supplier is investing 150 million more because we have given ourselves

Familia Martínez, the group that manufactures packaged lasagnas, gratins and roasts for Mercadona, has announced aAn investment of 150 million euros in two new facilitiesboth in areas affected by DANA 2024:

• A 20,000 square meter plant in Buñol dedicated exclusively to roasted products.
• And a rapid distribution center of 3,500 square meters in Torrent with capacity for 1,000 pallets.

Both will be operational between 2025 and 2026. In one of the openings there is a nod to the founding of the company: it started in the 70s with a butcher shop in Torrent.

Qor what is important. This expansion responds to the explosive growth of fifth-range prepared dishes in Spanish supermarkets. We are not talking about food from the counter that is sold hot (the ‘Ready to Eat’ section), but about refrigerated packaged products that the consumer heats at home: cannelloni, lasagna, roast ribs… A few months ago

The Spanish have consumed 17 kilos per person of prepared dishes in 20246.6% more than the previous year, and Mercadona has bet heavily on this category: Juan Roig said a few months ago that “in the middle of the 21st century there will be no kitchens” and is transforming the chain accordingly.

The figures. Familia Martínez closed 2024 with a turnover of 480 million euros (8% more) and a net profit of 31 million (15% more). Production exceeded 92 million kilos, with a growth of 6.2%.

The group directly employs more than 1,900 workers in Valencia and Madrid. More than 600,000 gratin dishes and 200,000 roasts leave the Buñol plant every week. In total, it has invested 320 million euros in the last seven years.

The context. The Martínez Family integrates four companies:

1. Martínez sausages (minced meat and sausages).
2. Traditional dishes (gratins, lasagna and fifth-range roasts).
3. Five Forks (traditional roasts).
4. La Pila Food (semi-finished products for industry).

Mercadona represents 85% of its business. Last year, the group paid 68 million euros to the French group Fleury Michon to keep 100% Traditional Dishes, the jewel in the crown.

The money trail. The investment in the new Buñol roasting plant is the most ambitious in the history of Familia Martínez. The center has been designed under criteria of energy efficiency and sustainability, with special attention to water savings.

According to the CEO, Raúl Martínthe group is “in a moment of important growth, in line with the good progress of our main client”, in direct reference to Mercadona, which represents close to 80% of its business.

• The disappearance of kitchens that Roig predicts not only translates into more prepared dishes, but also a radical simplification of fresh products.
• During 2024, Mercadona has expanded its “reengineering” of the fishmonger’s section to offer products that do not require the intervention of a fishmonger in the store.
• Salmon nuggets, gluten-free hake sticks or clean sole are examples of this strategy.

The rapid distribution center in Torrent will include semi-automatic shelving and two refrigerated warehouses with automatic management and robotization systems. This will shorten delivery times and improve the operational efficiency of the current Embutidos Martínez plants in Cheste and Torrent.

In Xataka | The boom in prepared food in supermarkets has a blind spot: nutrition. Are we putting the foxes to guard the henhouse?

Featured image | Martínez Family, Mercadona