Although the volume of overseas top fruit on the European market has drastically declined in recent years, Origin Fruit Group has continued to expand this line of business. "In particular, we specialize in blushed pears from South Africa. My father started importing these blushed pears from Langkloof, South Africa, almost 30 years ago, and we still receive them from our supplier Safpro from early February to early May. We are able to market these pears successfully every year," says Randolf Aaldijk.
A few weeks ago, the season began for the Rotterdam importer with the first arrival of Rosemarie pears from South Africa. Meanwhile, the Cheeky season has also started, with Flamingo pears to follow, and then the Trout pear season will begin at the end of March, lasting for about eight weeks. For green pears, we start with Williams, after which we switch to Packhams.
"Several importers in the Netherlands are still active in overseas hard fruit, but you only see large import programs for top fruit with retailers. In the past, we ran very large programs, particularly for Chilean Granny Smith apples from Clee and South African apples from Cape, among others. These were strong performers in Dutch retail."
Large apple exports from South Africa to other African countries
In the meantime, South African growers have discovered alternative sales channels, Randolf notes. "They have observed that European apples and pears are increasingly supplied year-round and have successfully sought other markets. For example, through our office in South Africa, we sell a significant number of apples to other African countries. This season, due to favorable apple and pear prices, there may be some additional opportunities in the European market, but for us, it is no longer a major market."
"At the same time, there remain regular customers who are interested in overseas top fruit. In pears, we see that demand mainly coming from wholesalers. We also foresee some demand from German service providers if they are short on supply to fulfill their programs. Availability is not an issue for us—we can source enough pears—but we are not the type of importer that wants to push large volumes onto the market."
In general, Randolf observes that import fruit programs continue to run smoothly, but the market is not overly dynamic. "Additionally, due to delays, fruit arrivals have been quite problematic. Sometimes it's strikes, other times congestion in Rotterdam, and on other occasions, vessels make an additional port call before arriving here. For instance, mango and lime arrivals from Brazil have been particularly problematic this season, leading to quality issues. But what I find most frustrating is that while ships are arriving here two to four weeks late, if you are even an hour late in unloading your container or returning it empty, you immediately face extra charges."
For more information:
Randolf Aaldijk
Origin Fruit Group
Albert Plesmanweg 250
3088 GD Rotterdam
+31(0)88 244 93 05
Randolf.Aaldijk@originfruitgroup.com
www.originfruitgroup.com