Fall Creek Spain Turns 10: From 2 Hectares to Serving 52 Countries

A decade after its first harvest, Fall Creek® Spain has grown from a single field in Andalusia into the company’s hub for Europe, North Africa and beyond, proving genetics, building clean plant systems, and laying the groundwork for a new generation of varieties reshaping the industry.

AZNALCÁZAR, Spain — Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Inc., a world-leading blueberry genetics and nursery company, this month marks 10 years of operations in Spain. What began in 2016 as a two-hectare harvest using plug material from the U.S. has grown into the company’s principal hub for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), now serving customers across 52 countries and producing 14 million finished plants annually. The Spain operation celebrates its 10th anniversary May 28 with an event at the company’s Aznalcázar nursery, bringing together the operation’s over 250 employees, including more than 30 who have been part of the Fall Creek® family since the operation’s founding year.

From a Watermelon Field to a Continental Hub

Fall Creek® acquired its first Spanish farm in summer 2015, 16 hectares of agricultural land in Aznalcázar, Seville, a plot the founding team came to call “the watermelon field.” The operation conducted its inaugural harvest in 2016 across just two hectares, using plug material from the company’s U.S. nurseries. What followed was a decade of capability-building: propagation, tissue culture, applied research and breeding facilities added progressively across Aznalcázar and a purpose-built research farm in Villamanrique.

Today, Fall Creek® Spain operates a tissue culture laboratory, propagation facilities, a full applied research and development program, and the EMEA central office: the infrastructure of a company that came to Andalusia to stay.

Proving Genetics, Building an Industry

Fall Creek® arrived in Spain at a moment when European and North African growers had limited legal access to high-performing blueberry genetics and the clean, certified plant material needed to scale production with confidence. The Spain operation changed that. Spain’s only facility capable of producing disciplined, clean, true-to-type blueberry plants at scale for the EMEA region, Fall Creek® Spain gave growers access to world-class genetics on commercial terms that worked for them legally, reliably, and at volume.

Unlike most international companies serving the EMEA market, which operate through Netherlands-based structures with regional markets as satellites, Fall Creek® built its European presence differently: Spain is the hub. Aznalcázar and Villamanrique are not a regional outpost of a northern European headquarters, but the center from which the entire EMEA business is run, a structure that reflects the company’s long-standing commitment to the markets it serves most.

The Spain operation has served as the primary gateway for the Sekoya® and Fall Creek® Collection licensing platforms into European and North African markets, and as an early-adoption and proving site for new genetics entering the region. The applied research program at Villamanrique has been central to that work: Fall Creek® Collection Apex ‘FCM14-057’, which has generated exceptional early demand since its commercial release, was identified as an outstanding performer through Spain’s applied research, its potential proven in local growing conditions where it had gone undetected elsewhere.”

The Spain team has also pioneered growing systems and plant production protocols that Fall Creek® has since adopted across its global operations.

“Building this operation from the ground up, from the first crop in 2016 to where we stand today, has been one of the defining experiences of my career. Spain is not just a nursery. It has become a reference point for how Fall Creek® operates globally: in innovation, in plant quality and in our commitment to growers,” said Antonio Álamo, EMEA regional director at Fall Creek.

“Fall Creek® has been serving the industry in Europe since the 1980s and North and Sub-Saharan Africa since the 1990s. When we made the decision to establish a direct presence in the region, the South of Spain was a natural home base. We knew it was critical to achieving 52 weeks of supply and felt strongly about bringing Fall Creek-level quality directly to our customers. We had confidence not just in the climate, but above all in the people. We are proud of this exceptional team and grateful for every customer across EMEA who grants us the privilege of serving them,” said Cort Brazelton and Amelie Aust, second-generation family leaders, Fall Creek.

Driving Growth Across Europe, North Africa and Beyond

The operation’s geographic position in Andalusia and its EU-certified plant health system have made it a uniquely capable export hub, mobilizing plants across the European Union, North Africa and Western Asia. North Africa has been a core market for Fall Creek® since the 1990s and represents a significant share of the EMEA business today.

The Wilczewski family farm, one of Fall Creek’s longest-standing customers in EMEA with nearly 30 years of partnership, has grown alongside the Spain operation since its earliest years.

“Working with Fall Creek® brought a new level of plant quality and professionalism to our operation. The genetics, reliable supply and agronomic support gave us the confidence to plan long-term investments in new varieties.

“Today, ArabellaBlue® and LoretoBlue® from the Fall Creek® Collection are among our strongest performers, with outstanding fruit quality and strong market potential. The European blueberry market is becoming more demanding every year, and I believe Fall Creek® will continue to play a key role in shaping its future,” said Adam Wilczewski, owner, Gospodarstwo Ogrodnicze Jerzy Wilczewski.

The People Behind the Decade

Fall Creek® Spain today employs over 250 people across its Aznalcázar and Villamanrique sites, making it one of the primary employers in both municipalities. Of more than 30 Fall Creek® family members who joined in the operation’s founding year, many have grown into leadership roles in operations, agronomy, commercial and global functions, a continuity that reflects a decade of investment in the people who built this operation.

It is a team that the Brazelton family, founders of Fall Creek®, has described as the anchor of a much larger global operation than they could have imagined when they first looked at a watermelon field in Aznalcázar a decade ago, one that has accomplished, in their words, at least 20 years of work in 10.

Looking Ahead

As Fall Creek® enters its second decade in Spain, the Aznalcázar and Villamanrique complex is positioned to shape the next chapter of the blueberry industry across EMEA as it has the last. A pipeline of new varieties from the Spain breeding program — the result of nearly a decade of applied work in low-chill environments — isexpected to reach market in the coming seasons, bringing genetics developed specifically for European and North African growing conditions to growers across the region for the first time.

About Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Inc.

Fall Creek® is a world-leading blueberry genetics company, delivering over 40 million plants of 100+ unique varieties annually to leading growers and communities in over 65 countries. Founded in Oregon in 1978, this family-owned company operates 10 wholly owned business units with operations spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Fall Creek® serves the global industry through distinct licensing platforms for advanced blueberry varieties. With over 1,100 team members worldwide, the company provides comprehensive horticultural support and market intelligence to maximize grower success. Committed to building A World with Better Blueberries™, Fall Creek® continues to lead industry innovation. Visit www.fallcreeknursery.com.