Bidasoa Frutak, fruit of 3 generations
Mª Dolores Lasa Lecuona. 1940 (Oiartzun)
Miguel Urchegi had 5 children with María Luisa Ruiz, Pedro being the only boy. Following the customs of the time, the family mushroom business remained in Pedro's hands.
Pedro and Dolores continued the mushroom business together. In 1948-1950, they abandoned the Irusta mines and decided to create a mushroom cellar in the Meaka district, where they dedicated themselves to growing mushrooms until 1970. Pedro had to stop producing mushrooms because he found that he was allergic to one of the products. In that first period they sold their produce to the markets of Irun and in the stores and bars of Irun and Hondarribia.
They stopped sowing the mushrooms, and started buying them from Rioja in 1970. They were prosperous years, because apart from people using mushrooms in home kitchens, they were the most common pintxos in restaurants and bars. As a result, they started selling button mushrooms and wild mushrooms (setas) not only in the Bidasoa valley, but also in Donostia, until Pedro retired in 2002 and Dolores in did the same in 2005.
Faced with the change in the market, Enekoitz began to diversify the product. In addition to mushrooms, he began selling other fruits and vegetables and focusing on the catering industry. Enekoitz would go back and forth with his van 365 days a year.
In April 2019, together with his partner David Velaz, they created BIDASOA FRUTAK S.L, a fruit and vegetable distribution company specializing in the hospitality sector. A new challenge and a new venture, which in March 2020 was jeopardized by the COVID-19 pandemic in its perilous early stage. But they managed to survive, selling again to small retail stores, as the hospitality sector was in its hardest moments. They were very tough times, but they were able to keep going.