History

Hilario Sánchez García began to prepare vegetable preserves in Azagra, Navarre. Hilario and his wife Leona Sáenz started up the factory so that their son Martín, who due to physical disabilities could not work in the field, would have a way of making a living.

• 1910. Law allowing the access of women to Spanish universities.
• 1911. Amundsen reaches the South Pole.
• 1912. Canalejas is assassinated by an anarchist.
• 1912. The sinking of the Titanic.
• 1914-18. First World War
• 1914. The Argentinean Luis Argote achieves the first blood transfusion.
• 1917. Triumph of the Russian Revolution.

During these years, Martín Sánchez Sáenz, who had learned the trade of can sealer in San Adrián (Navarre), was able to consolidate the factory's activity despite the fierce competition from canneries in larger villages in the Ribera del Ebro. For the first few years "La Azagresa" only produced tomatoes, peppers, peaches and asparagus.

• 1921. Disaster of Annual during the Morrocan war (14,000 Spanish killed).
• 1922. Mussolini seizes power in Italy.
• 1923. Beginning of the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera.
• 1928. Walt Disney draws Mickey Mouse.
• 1929. Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
• 1929. New York Stock Market Crash.

During the 1930s the food preservation industries played an important role in the economic development of the region. The Civil War did not prevent the factory from carrying on with its work: the demand for preserves increased, but there was a shortage of manpower. With the post-war came the shortage of tin.

• 1931. Proclamation of the Second Republic.
• 1931. Al Capone found guilty of tax evasion
• 1933. Hitler comes to power in Germany.
• 1935. Mao Ze Dong's "Long March" comes to an end.
• 1936-39. The Spanish Civil War.
• 1937. Action Comics publishes the first Superman comic in the U.S.

"La Azagresa" goes through the first extension of its installations in the Nueva Street Belena after buying some adjacent buildings. Martín Sánchez Sáenz dies in 1949. From that moment, Manuel Sánchez Basarte, the third generation of the family, takes over the management of the company.

• 1939-45. Second World War.
• 1940. Franco and Hitler meet in Hendaye. Spain does not enter the war.
• 1940. The first computer is built in the U.S.
• 1945. Atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• 1945. Foundation of the United Nations.
• 1947. Gandhi and Nehru achieve the independence of India.
• 1947. Manolete dies in the Linares bull ring.
• 1948. Creation of the state of Israel.

The company extends its catalogue of products. It starts to sell preserved wild mushrooms, strawberries and plumbs. The technological development experienced by the sector in this decade led the company to stop manufacturing its own tins. It was more profitable to buy them from specialised manufacturers.

• 1950. Foundation of SEAT cars. The first 600 was put on sale in 1957.
• 1953. Edmund Hillary conquers Everest.
• 1953. Berlanga's "Welcome Mr. Marshall", wins a prize at Cannes.
• 1954. Elvis Presley makes his first record.
• 1954. TVE is born.
• 1957. The dog Laika goes into space onboard the Sputnik II.
• 1959. Publication of the first Asterix and Obelix comic book.
• 1959. Triumph of the Cuban Revolution. Fiel Castro comes to power.

The sixties are years of growth during which "La Azagresa" turns its eyes towards the European markets to increase its sales. In 1968 Manuel Sánchez Basarte builds a new factory in Azagra.

• 1961. Yuri Gagarin is the first man in orbit.
• 1962. Marilyn Monroe is found dead.
• 1962. The president of the U.S.A. John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas.
• 1964. Beginning of the Vietnam War.
• 1966. Manolo Santana wins Wimbledon.
• 1967. Ernesto "Che" Guevara is assassinated in Bolivia.
• 1967. Christian Barnard achieves the first heart transplant.
• 1967. Publication of "One hundred years of solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Márquez.
• 1969. "2001, a space odyssey", by Stanley Kubrick.
• 1969. Neil Armstrong sets foot on the Moon. Together with Aldrin and Collins he formed part of the crew of the Apollo XI.

The public limited company Hijos de Manuel Sánchez Basarte is established in 1972. The fourth generation of the family takes over the management. The process of professionalizing the organisation of the company is begun during this decade. Thus, the Gardenia Sales and marketing department, which controls the sales of all the company's brands, is born.

• 1971. Foundation of Greenpeace.
• 1972.1972. Paquito Fernández Ochoa wins a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Sapporo (Japan).
• 1975. Death of Francisco Franco. Juan Carlos I becomes Head of State.
• 1975. Bill Gates founds Microsoft.
• 1977. Adolfo Suárez wins the first elections of the democracy. UCD, in power.
• 1978. The Spanish Constitution is approved.

The preserves begin to be sold in glass jars under the GVTARRA brand name. Hijos de Manuel Sánchez Basarte was a pioneer in the use of glass containers for vegetable preserves in Spain. GVTARRA becomes the leading company in the national market.

• 1980. John Lennon is murdered in Nueva York.
• 1981. Lieutenant Colonel Tejero tries a coup d'état.
• 1982. The PSOE wins the elections.. Felipe González, President.
• 1982. The Football World Cup held in Spain.
• 1983. José Luis Garci's "Begin the beguine" wins the Oscar for the best foreign language film.
• 1983. The first CD comes onto the market.
• 1986. Spain becomes a member of the European Union.
• 1989. Fall of the Berlin Wall.
• 1989. Salvador Dalí dies.

The factory in Villafranca (Navarre) is inaugurated in 1993. The new installations cover a surface of 60,000 square metres with more than 16,000 constructed. All the company's activities are concentrated there. The new factory also sees the start of investments in technology and R+D.

• 1990. Sadam Hussein invades Kuwait.
• 1990. Tim Berners-Lee creates HTML which made it possible for the World Wide Web to be born..
• 1991. Break out of the Balkan wars
• 1992. Barcelona hosts the Olympic Games.
• 1992. Seville organises the Universal Exhibition.
• 1994. Fernando Trueba's "Belle Epoque" wins an Oscar.
• 1995. Microsoft launches the Windows operating system.
• 1996. The Partido Popular comes to power led by José María Aznar.
• 1997. Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal to be cloned.
• 1997.Lady Di dies in a car accident in Paris.

The lines GVTARRA Natura, GVTARRA Selección and Platolisto are launched onto the market. In 2000 the company obtains the ISO 9001 certificate of quality, and, in 2004, the ISO 3001 certificate in recognition of excellence in environmental management. In 2007, Hijos de Manuel Sánchez Basarte, S.A. becomes a part of the Riberebro Group.

• 2001. Bin Laden order the attacks of the 11-S against the U.S.A. which cause three thousand deaths.
• 2003. The invasion of Iraq.
• 2004. The rovers Spirit and Opportunity find water on Mars.
• 2004. On the 11th March 192 people die in Madrid at the hands of Islamic terrorists.
• 2004. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero wins the elections and the PSOE returns to power.
• 2008. Barack Obama, becomes the first Afro-American President of the United States.