Laumont closes financial year of the pandemic with €21 million turnover

Laumont, a Spanish company dealing in the sale and distribution of truffles and mushrooms, closed its financial year reporting a turnover of €21 million. These figures break with the positive dynamics of the company in recent years (compared to the fiscal year prior the Covid crisis, it generated 15 % less turnover). Nevertheless, the results are still being viewed as positive, as the company improved rapidly after the sector’s slump from March 2020 onwards.

The effect of the coronavirus was reportedly devastating for the company. During the first few days of quarantine, the company was almost completely paralysed and the demand for all the fresh produce they were selling just disappeared. After a few weeks of general uncertainty and after having noticed the drop in demand from the restaurant industry too, Laumont gradually started up again and new expansion strategies began to be considered with the aim of recovering what had been lost.

Laumont entered into the retail chain after years of work. It began appearing in the main supermarkets in the country as well as large supermarkets in other European countries such as Germany. At the same time, the opening of an online sales channel for private consumers (www.laumontshop.uk) and an online sales channel for catering and distribution businesses and shops (www.laumont.eu) boosted sales.

These initiatives, together with its regular export and national sales activity in the main national markets (in Barcelona, Madrid and Bilbao), have optimised and modernised its resources and processes. For example, in order to improve food control and safety in the company’s mushroom selection factory, major investments have been made in machinery. These changes have brought a great deal of confidence to retail clients and have been key to Laumont’s consolidation in this sales channel, it says.

Laumont’s manager, Joan Casals, believes that truffle sector will grow exponentially in the coming years. “There are more and more truffle cultivations and we should bear in mind that Spain is the main producer of black truffles in the world”, he explains. Casals also believes that “the increase in the supply of black truffles in the coming years will be positive, as prices will be more affordable and the number of regular consumers of this very special product will increase.”

Laumont has confirmed that since the beginning of this year, optimism has returned to the national and international markets and he forecasts that by the autumn season, the level of sales of a “normal” year will have recovered.

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