After 22 years, Anton Filippo is stepping down from Logistic Business Partners Rotterdam at the end of the year. Due attention will be paid to this during Fruit Attraction. The new Business Development Manager Peter van der Klift, his successor has now arrived, although Anton will assist and advise the logistics service provider in the coming months.
Throughout his working life, Anton has been active in logistics. From 1980 to the early 1990s, for instance, he worked with Hans Janssen at Frans Maas. When he later worked for a company at Schiphol Airport, he was asked to contact Hans Janssen because he was interested in taking over LBP. However, the meeting at the Jagershuis in Hoek van Holland took a different turn. Janssen asked Filippo to join LBP and so Anton returned not with an acquisition but with his letter of resignation.
"Hans was keen to get more trade through the tent and I was hired for that, although in the early years I also did the necessary operational work. But I always had a lot of freedom to visit potential customers. Our first customer was a Brazilian mango producer and they are to this day. Especially in mangoes, we have always had a strong position, although nowadays it is a close call with blueberries which product has the biggest share," Anton says.
During Agritrade 2022 (Conference on Logistics in Guatemala)
"Over the years, we have also stored Dutch fruit, but those have never been the big volumes. We really specialised in the whole logistics around exotic fruit," Anton says. Sixteen years back saw the move to the Honderdland business park in Maasdijk. This is also where fruit ripening was picked up. Over the years, the workforce grew to some fifty employees.
A true pioneer, LBP became a grader and packer of blueberries of mainly South American origin. "Over the years, many other parties followed us, but we were the first with our small packing line. Back then, the huge boom from countries like Chile and Peru had yet to take off. So I travelled a lot, was away from home often, but that did lead to results. Twelve years ago, blueberry arrivals consisted of two airfreight shipments and one container. Nowadays, in season, we process, in blueberries alone, as many as 100 containers a week. We now have our own representation in Colombia and Turkey. Especially now that retail wants to source closer and closer, I have high hopes for countries like Turkey and Egypt."
At the PMA in 2022
Although Anton is stepping down at the end of this year, there is no question of a definite farewell to LBP, as Anton will still be in attendance at the Fruit Logistica 2025 in Berlin and will remain available to LBP on a project and request basis. "In this world of all fruit logistics, a lot is happening. I never wanted to be the biggest, but the best. Quality, continuity and personal contact have always been the keywords in this. We were sometimes known in the market for being a euro more expensive. So be it, but our customers were excellently taken care of for that."
And that will not change in the future if it is up to Peter van der Klift. "After a foray into dry cargo, fresh logistics started itching again. I started at LBP on 1 August and I have been really positively surprised by the passion there is in this company. People work here because they really enjoy it and personal contact is set in stone. That makes my heart beat faster. Wanting to be the best, not the biggest, is an ambition I can identify with 100%. In doing so, I hope that my knowledge of container transport can add value. In the coming period, I'll be busy making LBP my own, but then I'll gladly look for new opportunities, as Anton always did!"
Anton is not worried about the proverbial black hole. "There is a time for everything and it also opens up space for other activities again. For instance, with a friend I have been hobbying in the wine business for the last few years, we are going to take that up on a bit larger scale in the near future."
All LBP relations are welcome to attend the Madrid fair to shake Anton's hand and meet Peter.
For more information:
Anton Filippo / Peter van der Klift
L.B.P. Rotterdam BV
Honderdland 50
2676 LS Maasdijk
Tel: 0031-174-530550
[email protected] / [email protected]
www.lbp. net