Regionality seems to be gaining importance again - after all, it is considered a marker for a reliable supply of seasonally available products. Fittingly, the fruit salad producer mirontell launched its latest regional fruit salad mix "Werderfrüchtchen" in cooperation with Werder Frucht on April 2. To this end, we spoke with Lean Manager Robert Leuendorf.
"Regionality in this case means that we process and market Werder apples, which we purchase from the Werder Frucht company in Brandenburg, into regional fruit salad here in Großbeeren," says Leuendorf. The delivery is handled nationwide by the Dachser freight forwarding company.
Holger Schulze (2nd from left), Robert Leuendorf (far right) and other mirontell employees at Fruit Logistica 2023.
Regionality displaces organic
"We have noticed that demand for our fruit salads has increased significantly, but especially for regional fruit salads. The main topic of conversation at Fruit Logistica also seemed to be rather on that and increasingly replacing organic," Leuendorf said. "The apple is Germany's favorite fruit and therefore always found in all fruit salads. Fruits like watermelon, pineapple and cantaloupe melon are also part of the mix."
The fruit salads are sold in buckets with a net weight of 3.3 to 3.5 kg. The rest consists of a stock containing water, sugar and ascorbic acid. "Since this year, we also sell baker's apples. Werder Frucht cannot sell apples that have grown too large to food retailers, but we can in turn process them to reduce food waste. More and more consumers want to buy regional produce."
"We have also been affected by price increases. Among other things, energy costs have risen by up to 30 percent. However, in the coming months we will implement some projects for this. For example, we are currently implementing the installation of a photovoltaic system to significantly reduce energy consumption." With which both an economic interest and the topic of environmental protection would be connected.
Holistic value chain in Germany
In terms of price, the regional fruit salad is on the same level as the established fruit salads. The lion's share of mirontell's range is sold to wholesalers, whose biggest customers include the catering, hotel and care sectors, as well as large bakeries. "Basically, you can say that anywhere you see a fruit salad, we're likely to be represented."
"Our recyclable buckets come from Germany. We work with a shipper from Germany and have apples from Germany. So the whole value chain is holistically in this country."
Further information:
Robert Leuendorf
mirontell fein & frisch AG
Zum Kiesberg 8
14979 Großbeeren
Telefon: +49 33701-3573-0
[email protected]
https://www.mirontell.de