With the arrival of the first Mauritanian watermelons on January 18th, this year's season is getting off to an exceptionally early start. "Last year, we offered Mauritanian goods for the first time, and the season didn't really get going until the beginning of March. The goods were very well received by our customers and established themselves particularly well in the first year. This has prompted us to already ship the first batches now," Cevdet Cavusoglu of the Wuppertal-based company Fresh & Cash explains.
Due to snowfall and temperatures in the minus range, Cavusoglu initially expects a manageable demand for watermelons. "With these temperatures, we won't be selling huge quantities, of course. The quality of the first arrivals is certainly promising: The goods are nice and thick with weights between 12 and 16kg, and the Brix value is as it should be." The selling prices of around 1.70 euros/kg are also satisfactory.
Mauritanian watermelons of the Dumara variety.
According to Cavusoglu, the early goods from the North African country are meeting a tidy market. "We have been offering goods from Panama all along, but procurement was particularly difficult this year. The same applies to other melons from overseas, because we only occasionally get a batch of honey or Galia melons from Brazil." The Wuppertal fruit wholesaler is expected to be able to carry Panamanian watermelons until the end of February. "Mauritanian goods are normally available until April/May, although we are largely dependent on the start of the season in Morocco."
Turkish vine tomatoes from trade partner Lunafresh.
Furthermore, Turkish tomatoes are an important product for the company during the cold season. After a good start to the season, demand has dropped significantly, Cavusoglu reports. "The prices per pallet have more than halved compared to the same period last year and are now around 6 EUR/box. However, Turkish goods are still 1-2 EUR/box cheaper compared to Spain. We hope that sales will pick up a bit in the coming weeks. Because from the end of February/beginning of March, Belgian and Dutch greenhouse goods usually move into the foreground, after which the Turkish peak season traditionally ends."
For more information:
Cevdet Cavusoglu
Fresh & Cash GmbH
Vohwinkler Str. 119b
42329 Wuppertal
Tel.: +49 174 3929313
[email protected]
www.freshandcash.de