CARROTS

Monte Algaida's Carrot

Our soils have the privilege of being located on the marsh adjacent to Parque Nacional de Doñana, on the mouth of Guadalquivir River.

This exclusive position supplies particular conditions to the soil (The Sand of Monte Algaida), which becomes the best for the cultivation of vegetables and tubers, a cultivation tradition that dates back to XVIII century. All the above, together with an exclusive climate, produce a carrot with an extraordinary quality well known all over Europe.

The Sowing

The carrot we sow is mostly of the type Nantes, varieties "nipón" and "ambarino", we also sow the type Amsterdam, varieties "evora", "bayón" and "mukón".

The first sowing starts at the middle of August, and it continue until middle of March.

The Production

Harvest

The growing period for our carrots varies depending on the moment of the sowing. The earliest carrot, that is to say, the carrot sown in August and September, once the hot weather of the summer is passing through, lasts about two months and a half to grow. The carrot sown in autumn takes about three months and a half, and when sown in winter, it takes about four months. This allows us to have carrots available during the whole campaign due to our mild climate.

Gather in

Our team of agronomists is continuously checking the sown fields with the assistance of the farmers themselves. At the moment they observe that the carrot from a particular field has already achieved the qualifying conditions to be gathered in, such as the colour of the bush, the size and thickness of the fruit, etc...., a sample is sent for analysis. Once the product has been analysed and checked it is free of any type of contaminants (manure, fertilizers, insecticides, etc….) and, therefore, suitable for consumption, we start with the gathering in. The gathering in is carried out by hand on the wet soil, experienced workers uproot the carrots and classify them regarding size and thickness. This is the first quality control the carrots pass through. The selected carrots are grouped in bunches and sent to the Cooperative's facilities inside plastic boxes to be washed, cooled and packed.

Wash and pre-cool

Carrots are washed inside devices specially designed for it. The workers hang the bunches on moving hooks which form a closed circuit: first they pass under a water jet to remove the sand, then between brushes to remove dead leaves and incrustations and polish them, and last again under water jets to rinse them. Once the circuit has been completed, bunches are classified to put aside those with any kind of defect. They are introduced into their definitive packs, either plastic or wood, and go to the "hidrocooling".

The "hydro cooling" or pre-cool device is a tunnel in which the carrot receives water and chlorine at 0-1ºC for about 4 minutes. After, carrot will maintain a temperature among 3 and 5 ºC.

Storage

After the cooling, carrots are stored on pallets in cold-storage rooms at 1ºC until the moment of delivery. Carrots in bunch keep their optimum conditions in cold storage among 8 and 10 days. Peeled or in bulk carrots last among 25 and 30 days.

Packaging

Cooperativa Virgen del Rocío Soc. Coop. And. has two different presentations for its carrots, in bunches or peeled, the package changes depending on the presentation.

All our packages are certified and approved and fulfil all the requirements in European legislation for the handling and packaging of vegetables and fruits.

For carrots in bunch we mainly use wood boxes of plywood pine, also Chep, Europool, ifco plastic boxes, etc….

Peeled or in bulk carrots are packaged into 12 Kilo cardboard boxes, or 5, 10 and 12 Kilo plastic bags, as well as big-bag.