In March, BERGÉ demonstrated its logistics capacity for managing bulk agricultural produce through a comprehensive operation carried out at the port of Santander.

BERGÉ successfully completed the loading of 63,000 tonnes of Spanish barley onto two vessels (31,500 tonnes each) destined for Algeria. This operation was a big challenge in terms of planning, coordination and execution, which included receiving and storing the goods in the company’s facilities (in less than a month) and managing the arrival of the two vessels at port and loading the goods onto them (in only 15 days).

The pandemic has highlighted the strategic nature of the agricultural produce sector, playing an essential part in supplying food to the population. Furthermore, Spain is the EU’s fourth biggest exporter of these products. Within this sector, BERGÉ is considered to be one of the leading cargo handlers with 150 years’ experience in the port and logistics sector with more than three million tons of corn, wheat, sunflower, soy, rice and all kinds of flours passing through every year, which is stored in its more than 500,000 m2 covered storage space for products to be processed and controlled.

In addition to these figures, it should be added that BERGÉ is certified in GMP food safety (for the storage and transport of cereals, oilseeds, protein crops and other plant products), as well as under standard ISO 9001 and 14001 on management systems. Therefore, the company guarantees safety during handling processes (loading and unloading), storage and transport of such goods and offers all of its clients the necessary services for appropriate traceability and safety in all processes in the port logistics chain.

In addition, it is important to highlight the effort it has made in working on new systems which look after the environment, applying the best practices in its use of equipment and personnel teams to reduce the carbon footprint and save energy. All this, as part of the BERGÉ Management System, ensuring standards of quality, environmental care, and health and safety at work, with a comprehensive monitoring of the KPIs to be able to offer the best possible service.