«Taking carob from the Algarve to the World» is one of the great objectives of Grand Carob, the company that inaugurated on Tuesday, June 13th, its first industrial unit, in São Brás de Alportel, which already produces an alternative to milk and granola, all carob-based, of course.
It all started in 2017, when the Algarve-born Nuno Alves, at the time an accountant and living in the United Kingdom, decided that he wanted to move into another area and take advantage of the potential of the region that saw him grow.
In carob, he found enormous potential that, in his opinion, was still not being used as it should. «The idea was to take a strongly local, sustainable resource with an incredible flavor and create the best possible products with this resource», he told the Sul Informação.
The path in the food industry thus began to take its first steps at the University of Algarve, where the brand was incubated at CRIA – Division of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer.
«There we were given the conditions to start developing a prototype of the alternative to milk. In the creation of this milk alternative, we developed a new industrial process, in which we created the product that is commercialized today, as well as our granolas and flour», continued the young entrepreneur, who now, with the industrial unit installed in the Parque Industrial dos Almargens, in São Brás de Alportel, no longer has to go abroad to produce.
The company currently employs four people, who are always thinking about new ways to develop carob. Nuno doesn't want to stop at just current products: «the objective is to have a varied range, always based on carob».
After a few years of study and testing, the first product hit the market in 2020, the year in which Grand Carob won the Intermarché National Production award and the Acceleration Program of the Nabeiro Group, and was on sale on the Continent, Celeiro and Auchan. After a break, the brand is now making a strong return to the market, from North to South, in Celeiro, Auchan and Pingo Doce. Furthermore, Nuno mentioned that Grand Carob is already in some hotels in the Algarve, Lisbon and Porto.
Despite the national market being «a gateway», Nuno confessed to the Sul Informação that «the objective is to export, hence the name and all communication is also in English».
Asked whether he believes the product will have good visibility abroad, the businessman did not hesitate: «without a doubt, because it is a novelty, because it is a flavor that has already been tested abroad and it is known that there is a market. We cannot just be focused on a market and a specific taste or palate».
For José Apolinário, president of the Coordination and Regional Development Commission (CCDR) of the Algarve, projects such as Grand Carob are «of great importance for the region».
«We need innovation projects and that goes through the development of new products, adding value to the endogenous products that we have and improving their presentation to the consumer – and that is what this brand does, starting from carob», he told the Sul Informação, further reinforcing the fact that Grand Carob presents products that are being increasingly sought after by a more demanding consumer.
«We have a reality in our region where we have 76 thousand companies, of which the overwhelming majority are micro-enterprises like in this case, and, for these micro-companies to grow, they have to invest in new products and value. In that sense, this brand is an example», he concluded, reinforcing the importance of the company now being headquartered in the interior of the Algarve.
The granolas are available in two flavors (orange and coconut), for 4,49 euros. The carob drink costs 2,73 euros.
The Grand Carob industrial unit in São Brás de Alportel is co-financed by the Algarve Regional Program – CRESC Algarve 2020.
Photos: Mariana Sedge | Sul Informação
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