Market conditions and needs are changing, packaging company PEQ has noticed. "We expect a stabilisation in the demand for packaged product. Although there are still hardly any good alternatives - because there remains a tension between what retailers want and the price they are willing to pay for sustainable packaging - we recognise that the packaging market is not a growth market for the future," says Johan Vrijland.
For the Maasdijk-based packager, this is reason to focus even more than ever on year-round logistics services, in addition to the usual winter activities. "After all, we do see an increasing demand, and we also have the facilities for that. In our 9,000 m2 building, for instance, we have the capacity to refrigerate 1,400 pallets, and we can store another 1,000 pallets in our loading area. Also, we still have suitable office space and rental facilities available."
Import in the broadest sense
The premises operate a Warehouse Management System (WMS) so that every pallet can be tracked. Upstairs are the sorting machines and various packaging machines. "We offer refrigerated storage and transhipment and have all in-house capabilities for storage and transhipment, inspection, packing and repacking. In addition, we have over 70 trucks within our group to take the product to its final destinations in Germany, the UK, Scandinavia and further into Europe, among others, enabling us to take care of the entire logistics process for our customers."
Johan stresses that packaging remains the company's "hardcore business" for now. "After all, there are not really alternatives for loose product on a long shelf life basis yet. But we do start projects in parallel to be pre-sorted for the future. And particularly in logistics services on a year-round basis, we see an increasing demand, while packaging activities are stabilising."
Doubling paprika acreage
Nonetheless, PEQ has planned a substantial acreage expansion of 30-40 hectares for the summer. This will mainly entail red and yellow peppers. "For us, that is almost a doubling of our acreage, which will allow us to experience a substantial growth in the marketing of our own product," says Johan. Looking back on the current sweet pepper season, he says that after a somewhat slow start, the season is now in reasonable shape in terms of quality and price.
For more information:
Marc Vriesen
PEQ
Tel.: +31 (0) 644869657
Email: [email protected]
www.peq.nl