Helios Group’s journey began in 1901, when Alejandrino Pérez and his young grandson, Gaspar, began to make craft jams and preserves in their confectionery, El Sol, in Valladolid. Their products were such a success that they even made sweets for the Royal family and, in 1936, founded two new establishments called El Val and Helios. The latter ended up being registered as the brand we know today.

The definitive jump to becoming a benchmark in the Spanish food industry came with the construction, in 1959, of the factory in Arroyo de la Encomienda, very close to Valladolid. The facilities are currently 40,000 m2 and house the latest technology in production processes. The growth of the Helios Group was particularly fast in the 1980s, when it consolidated its leadership as a jam maker in Spain.

Since then, it has built a fruit processing plant in Azagra (Navarra) and has four production centres in Spain (Azagra, in the Navarra district of the same name; San Adrián-Bebé, also in Navarra; La Palma del Condado, in Huelva; and Íscar-Filito, in Valladolid), two in Germany (in the towns of Mühlhäusen and Mönchengladbach) and one more in Morocco (in the Kenitra area). It also has two sales offices abroad, one in France (Iberfruta Europe, S.R.L., in Perpignan) and another one in England (S.D.Parr, in Leeds). At corporate level, the Helios Group owns the Helios, Bebé, Eva, Mühlhäuser and Filito brands, amongst others.

Helios is a brand with a long tradition of sponsoring sports teams. Between 1979 and 1981 it was the co-sponsor of the cycling team that gave rise to the successful Zor team and also became the first advertiser on the Real Valladolid Football Club kit, which was worn for twelve seasons, between 1983 and 1994. During this first season of sponsorship, the club won its only official trophy, the First Division League Cup, in 1984.

In spite of its significant growth, the Helios Group continues to retain its modest, family spirit, with value placed on daily effort and perseverance to continue offering the highest quality in its products. It is a company where it’s all in the family – a big family consisting of 600 employees who work every day to offer the best quality with our products.

High value work that maybe we can’t see today, but will savour tomorrow

The best way to innovate is by advancing based on tradition, on good foundations enabling more, better building. Tradition and innovation are two concepts that come together under the roof of our 40,000 m2 factory with facilities that combine the timeless elaboration process with the most up-to-date production techniques.

Our R+D+i department works every day, not just on developing new products, but also on improving the existing ones. Like our BIO and 100% fruit origin product ranges.

At Helios we lovingly look after the steps in the production process, because this is the only way we can ensure the best product with quality assured.

• We look after primary production by working with 100% local raw materials, supporting our farmers, by picking the ingredients by hand, ensuring the best possible product, by transporting it in boxes and chilled, and by developing BIO products that help our countryside’s sustainability.
• We take particular care throughout the industrial process, with certified environmental actions. We work with energy self-efficiency programmes and on the basis of strategies that reduce negative environmental impact.
• At sales level, we use sustainable, reusable containers. We are also working on the ethics and transparency of our labelling, where we certify the product’s origin and the amount of fruit used.