Alter Cap Andalucía Invests One Million Euros in Casero y Natural (El Tortillón)
The Alter Cap Andalucía fund, backed by European funds managed by the Regional Government of Andalusia and private investors, has subscribed the €1 million financing round of the Seville-based company Casero y Natural, commercially known as El Tortillón. The firm currently operates nine stores across Seville, Huelva, and Málaga, selling 30,000 potato omelettes per month—“prepared individually in a pan using shell eggs and without any preservatives.” In addition, the company prepares up to forty ready-made dishes for home consumption, and its tortillas are already available in major retail outlets.

Through this transaction, Casero y Natural welcomes Alter Capital into its shareholding structure to accelerate its expansion plan, which includes the opening of 60 company-owned stores across Spain in the coming years, as well as continued growth in the retail channel with its homemade products. The company is also considering franchising, although this remains under evaluation. Moreover, just over a month ago, the company opened a restaurant in Alcalá de Guadaíra—Tortillón Tapas—featuring a 250-square-meter terrace, thereby creating a new business line.

Company History and Selection of Alter Capital as Partner
Seville-born entrepreneur Luis Galve Pons is the founder of El Tortillón. He previously created the Yogurice franchise in 2011, which reached one hundred locations across Spain and Portugal. He sold the franchise in 2015 and, one year later, opened the first El Tortillón store in Ciudad Expo, in the municipality of Mairena del Aljarafe (Seville). In 2019, he founded the company Casero y Natural together with Víctor Funez, later joined by Álvaro Morillo. Going forward, these three partners will have a new strategic ally in Alter Cap Andalucía, which they chose after declining offers from several industrial groups, according to Galve.

Casero y Natural, the company operating El Tortillón stores, currently has nine locations in Seville (Luis Montoto, Bermejales, and Pino Montano), its metropolitan area (Dos Hermanas, Mairena, Utrera, and Alcalá de Guadaíra), Lepe (Huelva), and Málaga city. New openings are imminent in San José de la Rinconada (Seville province) and on Juan de Pineda Street, on the corner of San Vicente de Paul, in the Triana district, as well as another restaurant in Lepe. During the summer, the company also operates for several months at La Antilla Beach (Lepe).

Plans for 60 New Stores and Revenue Forecasts
“We intend to open the 60 new stores in Cádiz and Badajoz, where we have already secured premises, as well as in Madrid. In the Spanish capital, we are actively searching for locations to open several stores simultaneously,” states the founder of Casero y Natural. The company posted €3 million in revenues during the second year of the pandemic, with forecasts for 2022 reaching €5 million. “The first year of lockdown was challenging. We had to apply for a furlough (ERTE) for five months because we were not allowed to open, as the authorities classified us as hospitality, even though no consumption took place in our stores,” he adds.

Production and Sales: 30,000 Tortillas per Month and Over 40 Prepared Dishes
The company offers a wide range of cooked products, including over 40 different dishes. Its individually handmade tortillas have been sold for a year in major retail chains such as Carrefour and MAS supermarkets. “We are currently producing around 30,000 tortillas per month, each weighing 1.8 kilograms and sold at a price of €7,” explains Luis Galve. The company consumes 65,000 kilograms of potatoes per month, part of which it cultivates at its own facilities in Palma del Río.

The company, which employs around one hundred people, operates a production facility in Palma del Río (Córdoba) supplying homemade tortillas to large retailers, and another in the Pibo industrial park in Bollullos de la Mitación (Seville), where it prepares cooked dishes for its stores.

International jump
Casero y Natural’s partners are also convinced that the company has “significant growth potential in international markets, where its flagship product—the Spanish potato omelette—is undoubtedly one of the most recognized and appreciated items of Spanish cuisine. Our goal is to enter the international market in 2024,” company sources indicate.

Fuente: https://www.abc.es/sevilla/economia/sevi-fondo-andaluz-alter-entra-empresa-sevillana-tortillon-202203032018_noticia.html