The last watermelons of this year's season were loaded in week 26. "Until the last shipment, there was a steady stream of great quality from Morocco, while the quality of the goods from Italy and Greece was not too convincing until a fortnight ago. This is now changing, as the open-air harvest has begun in both countries of origin," reports Ayber Cebba, co-managing director of Wuppertal-based Fresh & Cash Ltd.
The thick watermelons (12+ calibre) of the Dumara variety are particularly popular, especially in Morocco and Italy. "The proportion of goods of Greek origin is still around 40 per cent. From next week, however, the weather is expected to improve and we will then source up to 80-90 per cent of our seeded produce from Italy - also in view of the shorter transport routes and slightly lower prices."
Due to the rather wet and cold weather this summer, demand has been quite restrained so far, continues Cebba. Regardless of the weather, however, the Wuppertal fruit wholesaler has observed a certain basic demand for melons. "It's certainly not melon weather. We would need temperatures above 20 degrees for good sales. We have expanded our fleet this year just so that we can supply everyone with watermelons. In this respect, the campaign so far has fallen short of our expectations, although this could change again very quickly."
Fresh & Cash offers melons all year round. It currently offers seedless products from Spain and seeded watermelons from Greece and Italy. The company has now purchased 4 new lorries for the delivery of watermelons alone.
Even though watermelons are by far the main product in summer, the wholesale company also offers its customers other types of melon. "There is a corresponding customer base for each type of melon: customers with Moroccan roots like to eat large Piel de Sapo, while Galia and yellow melons are particularly popular with the Turkish community. Cantaloupe and Charentais, on the other hand, are gourmet melons par excellence. The relatively new Dino melon has also been growing in popularity for some years now."
In addition to the wide range of melons, stone fruit and sweet cherries are also stocked in keeping with the season. Cebba: "We mainly source sweet cherries from Spain, Belgium and Turkey, although the demand for Turkish cherries is interestingly well above the previous year's level. The strawberry business, on the other hand, is proving extremely difficult. Due to volume losses, there is very little produce available in both Germany and Belgium, and the quantities that are available are sometimes being traded at twice the price of the previous year. We are also already offering the first Moldovan plums of the Stanley variety, although demand is currently still manageable."
Customers from Breda
Founded in 2017, the company has now been based in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel for three years and has become a point of contact for numerous weekly markets and specialist shops in particular. "We have been able to record a pleasing increase in customers every year so far. We deliver goods within a radius of 80 to 100 kilometres around Wuppertal, but also operate a pick-up market. Customers particularly appreciate the variety of products and the quantities we can offer. People even come to us from Breda in the Netherlands especially to select their goods here. That makes us particularly proud."
Pictures: Fresh & Cash GmbH
For more information:
Ayber Cebba
Fresh & Cash GmbH
Vohwinkler Str. 119b
42329 Wuppertal
Tel: +49 174 3929313
[email protected]
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www.freshandcash.de