A cool truck for an ice-cold job: the Actros Edition 1 from Samoyedo

In summer, temperatures in the Andalusian town of Torredelcampo frequently climb over 40°C. In spite of this, it is the location of one of Spain’s largest ice factories. Samoyedo produces over 200 tonnes of ice cubes, crushed ice and tube ice every day.

“The higher the temperatures, the more ice is consumed,” says Ciro Sánchez, founder and owner of Samoyedo. And the official figures back up his claim. According to the Spanish association of ice cube manufacturers, when temperatures soar in July, August and September, 55 per cent of the total annual quantity of ice cubes is consumed. To meet this high summer demand, Samoyedo works round the clock in three shifts.

“Our raw material is water from the public utility network, which undergoes a cleaning process to remove limescale and potential impurities,” explains Sánchez. The entire production process is monitored by a quality management system. The factory in Samoyedo has two automated production lines.

Spain is the main consumer of ice.

Ciro Sànchez never imagined that his company would grow so quickly. “I started single-handedly in 1993,” he says. “I produced 700 kilograms of ice per day. Much of the process was manual.” Today, the company plans to increase daily production to 270 tonnes in the current financial year.

Spain is the leading producer and consumer of ice in Europe. Every Spaniard consumes an average of ten kilograms of ice per year. That is twice as much as the Portuguese and Belgians and significantly more than the Germans, French and Italians (three kilograms).

Sánchez wants to ensure that his product reaches the consumer in perfect condition. He therefore has his own fleet of vehicles. His most recent purchase was an Actros 1863 Edition 1. “The truck is extremely beautiful. But that alone isn’t enough,” he adds. “It needs to be efficient. And the new Actros is most definitely that.”

Photos: Begoña Tremps