Andalusian interprofessional fruit and vegetable association Hortyfruta has announced a major restructuring including the departure of its long-term managing director María José Pardo.

In a statement, the Almería-based organization said that it had undergone the restructuring following the departure of Pardo who had left to “pursue new professional projects.”

Hortyfruta’s current president, Francisco Góngora Cañizares, will continue in his present role, while the organization’s vice-president, Roque García Simón, will assume responsibility for much of the group’s representation at an international level and media relations.

García effectively replaces Pardo who led Hortyfruta since its creation in 2007 through some of the most difficult challenges that Spain’s fruit and vegetable has faced, including Almeria-produced lettuce being wrongly linked with a German E.coli outbreak in May 2011.

At the close of a meeting of its management committee, where the changes were announced this week, the organization thanked Pardo for her time at the head of Hortyfruta, acknowledging the work she had done during troubled times.

Paying tribute to Pardo, García said: “The relationship that we have had with the managing director over the years has been very close and fruitful.

“During these years, we have had to live through huge crises and in spite of these pitfalls, we have been able to strengthen the part Hortyfruta plays as a defender of the interests of the sector.”

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