ElPozo strengthens Spanish poultry business with Nutrave acquisition
Grupo Fuertes has acquired Toledo-based poultry producer Nutrave, adding capacity to process about 16 million birds annually. The transaction gives ElPozo an integrated operation spanning hatcheries, feed, farms, processing and distribution, as consolidation accelerates in Spain’s poultry sector.
Grupo Fuertes adds integrated poultry capacity
Grupo Fuertes has acquired Nutrave, a family-owned poultry producer based in the province of Toledo, in its second purchase in Spain’s chicken industry within a few months. According to La Verdad, Nutrave’s facilities can process about 16 million birds annually, giving the Murcia-based group additional farms, industrial capacity and a premium poultry brand.
The three families that founded Nutrave will retain stakes in the company and support the management transition. Grupo Fuertes plans to keep the company’s approximately 200 employees. The purchase price was not disclosed. Nutrave, founded in 2002, produces chicken and hen meat and exports more than 20% of its output.
Operations cover the chain from feed to processing
Nutrave controls its production chain from chick incubation to feed manufacturing and poultry processing. Its assets include a main plant and distribution center in Bargas, a hatchery in Cazalegas acquired from Grupo Sada, and a feed mill in Barcience with capacity of 24 tonnes per hour. Together, these operations receive birds from more than 60 integrated farms.
The acquisition also brings the Pollo Imperial brand into Grupo Fuertes. Its slow-growing chickens are not slaughtered before 56 days and receive feed that is 100% plant-based and contains 65% cereals. They are raised at low stocking density, positioning the brand in the higher-value segment that includes slow-growing, free-range and organic poultry.
Nutrave follows Grupo Fuertes’ July acquisition of Tolvasa and Paasa, two family businesses in Castilla-La Mancha with more than 50 years of history and combined turnover of about €140 million. Tolvasa supplies raw material, while Paasa processes meat. Before those transactions, ElPozo had only a limited presence in poultry meat and operated mainly in turkey.
Consolidation intensifies in a low-margin market
Grupo Fuertes had previously sought a larger entry into chicken. In 2025, it attempted to buy Uvesa, Spain’s second-largest producer, for about €300 million, but the business was ultimately acquired by Ukraine’s MHP. The Nutrave sale was conducted through a competitive process involving several bidders, unlike the bilateral Tolvasa and Paasa transaction. Uría advised the sellers, while EY and Garrigues advised Grupo Fuertes.
The deal comes as poultry companies expand through acquisitions to meet retailers’ requirements for volume and traceability in a sector characterized by narrow margins. On 1 October, Portugal’s Lusiaves announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Padesa of Amposta, Tarragona. It was Lusiaves’ third Spanish purchase within a year, following Oblanca and Avícola Segoviana.
Chicken already accounts for more than 42% of meat consumed in Spain. Average at-home consumption reached 13.2 kilograms per person last year, an increase of 5.4%. Spain is Europe’s second-largest chicken-meat producer after Poland and produced 1.72 million tonnes of poultry meat in 2024, almost all of it chicken. Conventional birds represented 95% of production, leaving a smaller but higher-value market for slow-growing, free-range and organic products such as Pollo Imperial.
