María Jesús Alonso Jiménez, Spanish Ambassador in Holland, has recently visited the facilities that Looye Kwekers owns in the Dutch town of Burgerveen. Juan José López, General Director of Looije OP; and Jos Looije, President of Looije Águilas and the aforementioned company; accompanied the diplomatic and explained her the process of production of the tomatoes, from its plantation and harvest to their packing and distribution, such as the structure and organization of both companies.
María Jesús Alonso was born in Madrid in 1956, she studied Law and she started her diplomatic career in 1983. She has held different positions, such as Deputy Director at Diplomatic School, Spanish Ambassador in Turkek and Denmark, or permanent representative of Spain in the NATO. She has also been the Spanish Ambassador in Cameroon (2005-2008), Ghana (2014-2017) and Holland (currently).
The visit had the presence of Sjaak Van der Tak, city councilor in Rotterdam and President of Glastuinbouw Nederland. The objectives of the day were strengthening the institutional relationship and finding cooperation points between both countries.
Looye Kwekers is a Dutch company, funded in 1946 by J.M.Looije. It specialized in tomato cultivation at the beginning of the 70’s. In 1998 the company opened a new production plant in Aguilas, Murcia, expanding that way to Spain with the aim of getting tomato supply during the months of winter. Nowadays both companies still share property however they work completely independent from each other.
