With weekly imports of around ten containers, Sawari Fresh - founded five years ago - is an important player in the Dutch ginger market. Bert van Gelder, Purchasing Director, talks about rising ginger imports and challenges in the sector. Sawari Fresh supplies ginger, mainly from China, Peru, and Brazil to retail and wholesale customers in the Netherlands and surrounding countries. Chinese ginger is known for its large hands, Brazil for its light blue-gray color secretion when cut, and Peru for its sharp flavor.
Problematic season's end
Ginger rapidly loses quality at the end of every season, prompting customers to look for new sources. Clients often want to start using ginger from China as soon as possible in the New Year, but harvesting too early can lead to rot during the long sea voyage. Sawari Fresh, therefore, waits until the end of December to order the first shipments, and the containers arrive in Rotterdam in early February.
Chinese ginger
Fragmented supply side
Last year, Chinese ginger suffered quality issues, largely caused by humid weather conditions. The fragmented supply side, with many small-scale growers, makes it difficult to guarantee consistent quality. That is why Sawari Fresh has staff on-site in Peru and Brazil to monitor quality and has taken steps to improve Chinese ginger's traceability.
Transit time
Last season, there was another problem: the Red Sea debacle. That increased transit times and delayed arrival times, which affected quality. "Just as the first ginger was en route to Europe, the Houthis began attacking," says Bert. "The shipping route was diverted via the Cape of Good Hope, which threw off arrivals and supermarket chains' delivery planning."
Brazilian ginger
Bert says the Brazilian season was not too bad. "We continued slightly too long, though, because the market was reasonably good. Then, the quality becomes noticeably inferior in the last part of the year. Peru is a similar story. It became time to switch to China," he reckons.
Exotic or commodity?
When Sawari Fresh began five years ago, ginger sales to the processing industry were non-existent. Now, about a third of the imported ginger is used for juice, and that share keeps growing. Van Gelder expects that half of the ginger will be used for juice within a few years. That shows that ginger is evolving from an exotic product to a commodity.
Dutch ginger
Despite that, Bert does not believe ginger prices will decline. Consistent quality remains Sawari Fresh's biggest challenge. The company continues to innovate and expand, including with Dutch-grown organic ginger. In five years, the business has grown into one with 14 permanent employees and a packaging team, and it keeps the bar high for quality and presentation.
For more information:
Sawari Fresh International
Tel: +31(0)180 472 803
bert@sawarifresh.com
www.sawarifresh.com