Grefusa, the Valencian king of sunflower seeds and snacks that invoices €166M

At one end of the avenue, there is the Vall de La Casella Early Childhood and Primary Education Center. At the other, a small park with swings. In between, there are a few new single-family homes, which are combined with a large vacant lot full of scrap metal, an outdoor parking lot, and a freshly cut field. It is an area of Alzira, in the Ribera Alta, half-finished: residential use coexists with vestiges of the agricultural and industrial past. In fact, very close by there used to be the Grefusa factory, one of the historic companies for nuts and snacks in Spain. It is no coincidence, therefore, that since January 2013 this new avenue has borne the name of José Gregori Furió, who founded the company in 1929.Almost a hundred years later, Grefusa continues at a good pace. The company closed 2024 with a turnover of 166 million euros and a profit of 15.4 million, 6% more than the previous year. Approximately 275 million bags of its products are consumed each year, from the mythical Gublins and Papadelta to El Piponazo, MisterCorn, Pipas Tijuana, or Snatt’s. The company, which employs more than 700 people, maintains its production plants in Alzira and Degradas, Portugal, and has strengthened its nuts business in recent years with a new factory of more than 9,500 square meters in the Valencian town.The story begins in 1929, when José Gregori Furió founded a business in Alzira initially dedicated to the storage and marketing of agricultural products. There were no colorful bags, no mascot, no snacks yet: at that first moment, the company operated in an environment much more rooted in local agricultural trade. The big step came from 1950 onwards, when it specialized in nuts and, above all, in Valencian peanuts, a product that allowed it to begin building its own identity within the food sector.

The growth of the business made it necessary to register a commercial brand. Thus Grefusa was born, a name built from the founder's surnames: Gregori Furió, public limited company. The brand condensed the family origin of the company, but also marked the beginning of a more ambitious stage. In 1962, José Gregori Furió's sons, Alfredo and Agustín, joined the business and took over. With them, the company expanded its activities and began to roast nuts.

Snacks: a risky bet

For years, that model worked. But the leap that truly changed Grefusa arrived in the eighties, when the second generation decided to take the company into a new territory: that of snacks. The company came from the world of nuts and making this shift required investing in machinery, taking risks, and competing in a category much more linked to impulse buying, leisure, and brand building.

For this reason, the brand greased the advertising machinery. In 1986, Grefusa created Grefusito, its mascot. Two years later, in 1988, it took the definitive step with the launch of Papadelta, the product that marked the company's entry into the world of snacks. From here, Grefusa strung together a decisive decade: in 1990 it launched El Piponazo, an extra-large sunflower seed presented as the largest on the market; in 1991 came Gublins, with an elongated and difficult-to-imitate shape; and in 1993 MisterCorn was born, the crunchy corn that ended up becoming another of its emblematic products.

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Their products began to be sold in bags designed to be sold at the newsstand or supermarket and consumed in the schoolyard, as an appetizer, or on a bench with friends. In 2001, Agustín Gregori Bernabeu took over as general director and led the third generational change. That same year, the company launched Pipas G Tijuana, the first flavored pipes. The product worked immediately and became one of the brand's great successes.

In recent years, Grefusa has reinforced this strategy with new business moves. In 2007, it launched the Snatt's line, aimed at consumers seeking products with a certain nutritional balance. In 2018, it acquired the Portuguese company Frutorra, specializing in nuts, and signed an alliance with the German group Intersnack, one of the European giants in the sector.