We are pleased to announce that, this July 2020, we completed the integration of the Italian company Besana through the purchase of 51% of its share capital.

The Spanish food company Importaco reached an agreement with the Italian company Besana to strengthen its focus on natural products, such as hazelnuts, cashews, almonds, peanuts and seeds, and thus consolidate its international business.

With this operation, the Group strengthens its competitive position as the leader in the European market for nuts and dried fruit, with a presence in markets such as Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Germany, France, Poland and the Scandinavian countries.

Importaco and Besana are family companies with over one hundred years of consolidated experience in the nut industry; they are both customer-oriented and focused on healthy eating, and their business model is based on product quality, process efficiency and production capacity through their network of factories.  

Importaco distributes to the retail market in Spain, acting as a supplier to Mercadona. It is also present in the markets of ingredients for the agro-food industry, and in the food service market for the hotel and restaurant industry. In these latter sectors, it is present through the ITAC Professional brand.

After the integration, Toño Pons will be the company’s President, and the Calcagni family will continue working in the company’s management bodies.

Besana specialises in nuts, dried fruits and seeds, with a strong focus on quality and innovation and a wide range of products and packaging, the result of its leadership in R&D.

The company mainly distributes to the retail sector, and has a strong presence in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Scandinavia and Eastern European countries, as well as Italy. The combination of two business models such as those of Importaco and Besana, “consolidates the leadership, in the European nuts and dried fruit business, of a Group with strong competitive advantages from the perspective of the integration of the value chain, the strength of its industrial fabric, and the potential for increased sales”.  

Toño Pons, President of Importaco, believes that, thanks to this operation, “we are consolidating our project of sustainable growth supported by quality and innovation. With the levers of internationalisation, and the specialisation in natural products and healthy eating”.

Pino Calcagni, President of Besana, states that in the current scenario “the globalisation of new markets and the development of synergies to improve economies of scale become key factors. The Importaco Group is the ideal strategic partner to achieve these objectives and create value throughout the supply chain”.

Want more information about our products? Take a look at our nuts catalogue for the food industry.