Jerónimo Martins Agro-Alimentar (JMA) was created in 2014 to safeguard the ability of our food retail companies to supply themselves directly with strategic products, ensuring food security and availability.
Since 2020, with the growth and consolidation of its operational and production areas, JMA has started to produce for markets other than Portugal.
JMA’s mission is to:
JMA operates in four business areas: dairy, agriculture, aquaculture, and fruits and vegetables.
JMA’s activities in the dairy industry began in 2015 with the acquisition of the old Serraleite cooperative plant in Portalegre (in the central region of Portugal, not far from the Spanish border). In 2018, after an investment that more than doubled the old factory capacity, a new plant to produce milk, cream and butter was launched.
Focusing on quality and sustainability, Terra Alegre achieved:
Watch the video in which António Serrano, CEO of Jerónimo Martins Agro-Alimentary, takes us on a journey through the Pingo Doce fresh milk cycle:
Livestock farming is divided into three sectors: meat production, milk production and cereals and pasture production (which provides more than 70% of animal feed needs).
All farms are certified for animal welfare. In addition, the Angus meat sold in the Pingo Doce chain is also certified as antibiotic-free.
JMA started to produce sea bass in Sines through Seaculture in 2016, followed later by the production of sea bream in Madeira in partnership with a local company. In 2021, Seaculture was granted licences to build from scratch offshore aquaculture units in the Algarve to produce sea bream and sea bass.
Sea bass and sea bream are farmed in the sea allowing the fish, to develop in their natural habitat, and handling is kept to a minimum until capture, in order to avoid stress on the animal.
The internationalisation of this business area began in 2021 with the acquisition of a majority stake in a company in Morocco for the offshore production of sea bass and sea bream in the Mediterranean.
JMA also entered the sustainable salmon production sector in 2022, owning 25% of the Norwegian company Andfjord Salmon.
JMA started its activities in the fruit and vegetable sector in 2020 with a partnership to produce organic seedless grapes, which were launched in 2023. This production is already certified by the Global Gap benchmark.
Also through a partnership, JMA will add organic orange production to its portfolio. This will be the largest organic orange grove in Portugal and the first harvest is expected in 2025.
We play a part in protecting the future of the fish stocks and oceans, while providing the freshest products to our customers.
We seek to prevent unnecessary animal suffering within the goal of bringing the best food quality to our customers.