The companies located in Lleida and its surrounding area generated €671 million in revenue and employ 2,425 people
The companies located in Lleida and its surrounding area generated €671 million in revenue and employ 2,425 people
Vall Companys Group, a leading agri-food group, closed the 2025 financial year with revenue of €4.626 billion, exceeding the €4.163 billion recorded in the previous year. This turnover reaffirms the company’s leading position in Spain’s food sector, alongside other companies of both national and international origin.
The company, whose central services are based in Lleida and which operates more than fifteen businesses in Lleida and its surrounding area, generated third-party revenue of €670.96 million from the region, reinforcing the Group’s local roots and origins. At the same time, this growth in operations has also resulted in more jobs, bringing the total number of employees to 2,425.
Lleida: the leading region for investment
Furthermore, the Lleida area —considered the birthplace of the Group— was the region that concentrated the highest volume of investment in its production plants. Specifically, investment in Lleida and its surrounding area rose to €53 million, 35.9% more than the previous year, thereby benefiting local service providers.
The most significant investments include renewable energy, energy efficiency, the automation of Pondex’s hatchery in Juneda, the upgrade of the feed factory in Alcoletge and the improvement of production processes, including the installation of state-of-the-art refrigeration systems. These initiatives help to maintain the production plants in a leading and competitive position. The acquisition of trucks to renew Transegre’s logistics fleet is also particularly noteworthy.
However, during the 2025 financial year, the company’s net margin fell to 5.3% of third-party sales, equivalent to a net profit of €245.4 million across the company’s global scope. This decline was caused by global instability, as well as by an unexpected end to the year. The declaration of African swine fever (ASF) led to the activation of a contingency plan that affected the company’s 2025 net result.
ASF: market closures, devaluation and contingency plan
African swine fever was declared on 28 November 2025, representing an unprecedented and severe blow to the competitiveness of Spain’s pig sector, both in livestock farming and in the international marketing of meat.
The African swine fever outbreak that began in Bellaterra led to the complete closure of certain export markets, including Japan and Mexico, and the partial closure of others, such as China and the Philippines. The latter were initially completely closed and are now subject to regionalisation measures affecting meat and by-product exports. This situation caused the Mercolleida market price to collapse, leaving pig farmers facing production costs far above benchmark prices.
In response, the Group’s management activated a financial contingency plan aimed at mitigating the economic and competitiveness crisis caused by the ASF outbreak and the closure of international markets, in anticipation of a highly complex 2026.
In this context, the company has implemented a financial contingency plan to address ASF and its commercial consequences. Initially, a provision of €61 million has been made in accordance with the applicable accounting standard resulting from the devaluation of livestock inventories. The planned dividend has also been halved, from €72 million to €36 million, while budgeted investment in the Group’s assets for 2026 has been reduced from €190 million to €85 million, among other measures.
The emergence of African swine fever represents a serious contingency for the livestock and meat sector, as it devalues pig prices at farm level while fully or partially blocking export markets, some of which are high-value destinations. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that it could continue indefinitely unless wildlife population control measures are introduced to contain the outbreak and eradicate the disease.
International expansion in Latin America
Vall Companys Group has always believed that the best way to protect its business and value chain in Spain is through productive diversification across the Iberian Peninsula —with different business lines and circular economy initiatives— and through an international expansion plan that has been developed since 2016.
To continue diversifying production across different parts of the world, the Group has accelerated its expansion in Latin America by entering two new countries. During 2026, it reached several agreements with Coexca SA in Chile, through its Brazilian subsidiary Master Agroindustrial, and with Grupo Pacuca in Argentina, through a $14 million participating loan.
In addition to these countries, since 2016 Vall Companys Group has gradually acquired minority shareholdings in companies in Peru, Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil. Mexico is the exception, as the Group already holds a 75% stake there. All these transactions have focused on creating synergies, contributing know-how and strengthening the livestock and meat value chain. The investment decisions were based on the fact that these markets had a domestic production deficit, making it necessary to encourage local production.
The Group has strengthened its level of internationalisation. In recent years, exports have enabled many local professionals to develop their careers by specialising in international trade. This international expansion process now represents a growth opportunity for many Vall Companys Group professionals, including veterinarians, agronomists, finance specialists, human resources professionals and engineers, among others.
From business commitment to social commitment
The company has always maintained a firm commitment to Lleida and its surrounding area, which it has demonstrated for several years through social initiatives that strengthen its connection with the city. One example is the “Vall Companys Group – UdL Chair in Sustainable Food”. This collaboration programme between the company and the University aims to promote knowledge exchange and to retain and attract the best university talent.
Vall Companys Group also continued its collaboration with the Federació de Colles de l’Aplec del Caragol. The agreement enables festival participants to access the company’s meat product catalogue at special prices and highlights the company’s involvement in the city’s social and cultural fabric. In addition, through its Healthy Company department, the company is organising talks on healthy eating for children and teenagers from sports clubs in the areas where it operates. In Lleida, these activities have been organised in collaboration with Força Lleida, Atlètic Segre, Lleida Handbol Club and Orfeó Lleidatà.
Commitment to local talent and training
The agri-food Group is committed to an active talent attraction and retention policy. It therefore has more than 200 training agreements with universities and vocational training centres throughout Spain, many of which are located in Catalonia.
The company has made continuous training a key tool for developing internal talent. Throughout 2025, almost €1.5 million was invested and more than 68,000 hours of training were delivered to the Group’s professionals. As a result, and based on other employability criteria, Vall Companys Group achieved Top Employer certification for the sixth consecutive year. This certification recognises the Group as one of Spain’s leading employers.