Estrategias de innovación en el sector hortofrutícola español y en las empresas encargadas de la logística y transporte de estos productos perecederos

Abstract

Fruit and vegetable growing has become the leading and most profitable sector in Spanish agriculture, due to the favourable climatic conditions of a part of the Spanish territory, as well as the remarkable experience of distribution and commercialisation companies. It has also created a cultural background as a result of the interplay of agriculture, industry and commerce, which characterises this activity in some towns and regions in Spain. Furthermore, it is the major cause of the development of logistics and road transport vehicles, specially refrigerated trucks that guarantee a controlled temperature. The sector is continuously forced to make innovations in the production, commercialisation and transport of fruits and vegetables, due to the open nature of this activity; these goods are produced to be sold, and most of them are exported to other countries. Over the last few years, this innovation process has sped up, because of economic globalisation and the growth of the European Union, which is its main market.