At the Dortmund wholesale market, the 2G regulations and the restrictions on catering are inevitably making themselves felt. Walk-in customers have markedly decreased, and the goods are mainly delivered to the customer instead. But the company also faces major delivery challenges, says Heinz Karstner, Managing Director of Gebr. Gottschalk.
The trading company, which is based at the local wholesale market, has been primarily dedicated to supplying market traders, food retail outlets and restaurateurs for many years. "We deliver our goods within a radius of 90 kilometers. When we supply customers outside the Dortmund area, the increased fuel prices are increasingly being felt."
Heinz Karstner during FreshPlaza's 2018 wholesale market visit. Clementines of the Clemenules variety, for example, are traded under the premium label Rotkehlchen.
Quality instead of quantity
Citrus fruits and grapes are now predominant at the wholesale market site. Karstner: "We source our citrus almost entirely from Spain and we carry the premium brand Rotkehlchen. Although we can sometimes be a bit more expensive, we pay a lot of attention to the quality of our goods. We also don't necessarily want to offer every single specialty, because the quality of our basic assortment is extremely important to us. We've also been putting an increased focus on untreated and organic products in recent years, both for domestic items like apples and imported goods."
For many years now, the company has been based at the Dortmund wholesale market
Price increases and difficult procurement situation
According to Karstner, the general conditions in terms of goods procurement are quite challenging nowadays. "The complete range of products has tended to become more expensive. So price-wise, the situation could be better. Meanwhile, certain items are also difficult to obtain in some cases: At the change of season, there was a shortage of peppers and cucumbers, but in the meantime the supply situation has stabilized to some extent again."
For more information:
Heinz Karstner
Gebr. Gottschalk
Stand-Nr. 105 - 109
Heiliger Weg 60, 44135 Dortmund
Tel: 0231-5570730
Fax: 0231-551697
E-Mail: [email protected]
https://gebrueder-gottschalk.de/