In A windswept Castilian town 300km (190 miles) north of Madrid, Europe's largest biscuit plant is churning out digestives, wafers and crackers around the clock. The economic crisis has not really hurt Galletas Gullon, a family-owned firm that dates back to the 19th century: its products are staples in Spanish households and its newer range of "healthy" biscuits created the market sector they dominate.In fact, the crisis may even have helped, by forcing Gullon to look harder for growing markets outside Spain. Sales rose by 10% to around €2i6m ($277111) in 2012, says Juan Miguel Martínez Gabaldón, Gullón's boss, but exports grew by 15%. More than a third of its biscuits are sold outside the country now, and the share will rise when new capacity comes on stream this year. A decades-long policy of reinvesting profits in mechanisation and product innovation allowed Gullón easily to increase and diversify its output.
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