The sale of the Balearic food sector continues: Comercial Vera is now in the hands of the group that bought Ca Na Paulina

PalmThe Balearic Islands' food and industrial history is facing a turning point. Following the demise of Agama, the Catalan group Vall Companys has acquired Comercial Vera, a leading name in Mallorcan gourmet food. Founded in 1994 by Manuel Vera, the company has been sold to this meat distribution giant, which boasts an annual turnover exceeding €4.1 billion. Specializing in both domestic and imported meat, the company has been a key supplier for hotels, restaurants, and local businesses, offering a catalog of over 4,000 products and daily delivery services throughout the island. In 2009, Comercial Vera opened a 3,500-square-meter facility equipped with advanced technology for animal waste disposal, processing, and packaging, as well as a 450-square-meter retail space for direct sales. The Vera family will continue their involvement in the food sector by managing a butcher shop in the Olivar market and a restaurant, formerly known as Asador Patxi, in Palma.

The Vall Companys Group (founded in 1965 and headquartered in Lleida) acquired another leading meat company in Mallorca a few years ago: Carnes y Alimentos Mas Crespo (Ca Na Paulina), a renowned butcher shop and meat company in Mallorca with nearly a century of history. Founded in 1929 as a small family shop – in Coll d'en Rabassa – by shepherd Juan Mas and his wife Paulina Crespo, the company grew throughout the 20th century to become a regular supplier for individual consumers as well as hotels, restaurants, and other institutions in the Balearic Islands. For decades, Ca Na Paulina maintained its family character and expanded its operations to Menorca and Ibiza, until the sale process to Vall Companys was finalized in 2020. At that time, Ca Na Paulina had recorded a turnover exceeding 20 million euros annually.

The background of Agama

In this context of the loss of island identity among companies in the agri-food sector, the closure of Agama – now part of the Damm Group – has been a blow to public opinion. The closure affects workers and farmers and has become a symbol of the fragility of the island's primary sector in the face of market concentration and price pressures. The situation highlights the structural vulnerability of local production, which often depends on large chains and external groups to survive, and underscores the lack of industrial support strategies and incentives for local production. Another paradigmatic case is that of the Bip Bip supermarket chain, historically managed by Moyà Saus, which recently acquired Transgourmet Ibérica, a subsidiary of an international food distribution group with Swiss capital participation. This operation has integrated the Bip Bip brands into the large Transgourmet network and transformed Mallorca's local distribution into just another cog in a global corporate machine, with strategic decisions made off the island. In fact, the original signage is disappearing from supermarkets, some sixty in the Islands. Transgourmet also controls the Suma brand, which likewise has numerous small stores in the Islands.

The three cases show a common pattern: local food companies end up in the hands of large corporations in the sector. According to the most critical voices, this situation means less food sovereignty, less control over production, and greater dependence on external groups. The story of Comercial Vera, the sale of Bip Bip, and the closure of Agama form a common narrative of a Balearic food and distribution industry being reshaped by external actors.