According to Loek Smets of P. Smets & Zn there's isn't much Christmas bustle yet. "It will really get going next week. But the time of selling five times as much at Christmas like you did twenty years ago, are really over. Everyone can order their Christmas dinner ready made in the supermarket. The Christmas bustle is decreasing each year. Of course we sell more green beans, pea pods, carambola, pineapple and melons, but recently Easter has been busier than Christmas. At the moment the price of almost all fruit and vegetables products is ridiculously low."
The brothers Peter, Loek and Richard Smets. Peter is active with Smets Food Trading. Loek and Richard runs the wholesale with father Pierre.
P. Smets has been active as a wholesaler in south Limburg for 85 years. The customer base consists of retailers, catering suppliers, street traders and increasingly Turkish customers and farm shops. The customers are in a 100 kilometer radius around Geleen and consist of 60% Dutch, 30% Belgian and 10% German customers. "Abroad isn't too far away for us with Belgium and Germany next door. The patronage of Turkish stores in Belgium and Germany is increasing in particular."
Whereas many fellow wholesalers dropped out over the course of the years, Smets has only strengthened its position. "We had a good year and made a good turnover, so we're very satisfied. We extended the volume towards existing customers and added various new ones," says Loek. When asked whether he expects current Dutch wholesalers will continue to exist he replies: "I hope so, I still have a few years to go!"
"But joking aside, I'm convinced that the wholesalers can survive. As long as you're actively looking for the extra we can offer, in quality and taste. And as long as we can keep the lines short from producer to consumer, I think we can't certainly stay ahead of the supermarket channel and I look towards the future positively," concludes Loek.
For more information:
P. Smets & Zn.
Hofdwarsweg 11
6161 DE Geleen
Tel: 0031 46 - 474 23 81
Fax: 0031 46 - 475 73 23
[email protected]
www.psmets.nl