“Sales growth has been really strong over the last few years,” says Philip Symons, Sales Director Europe at North Bay Europe about the growing business from the Dutch North Bay subsidiary in Rotterdam. “We had very good, strong ongoing business already but having established North Bay Europe BV and the office in Rotterdam, has meant we have been able to take advantage of a lot more opportunities to do business.” Those opportunities include for instance exports to the Middle East. “We are now able to export European production into Israel. Also having our people on the ground where most of the fruit is arriving, has been a huge benefit.”
The growth and increasing volumes that customers require, also lead to the need of adding staff, mentions Philip’s colleague Brian Klumpp, Director of Marketing and Strategic Development. “Staff turnover at North Bay is very low. Most of the people are here for a long time, which means we have got a lot of experience in the company.” He sees that this is not only good for the level of knowledge within the company, it’s also indicative of a good working culture. “We have a very flat organisation, with a small management team, working very well together.”
Strategic aspiration to grow
Although it should be noted, Philip does not expect the current economic dynamic and corresponding decline in fruit consumption in Europe to stand in the way of North Bay’s ambitions to continue expansion. “We see a three year aspiration to double our sales in the European area. We are quite lucky that we are still in a growing segment of the market. Of total North Bay sales, Europe currently represents about 10 percent. We have a strategic aspiration to grow that significantly to give better balance and risk spread into all the global markets, for our growers.”
Philip sees that the expansion of the grower base – outside of the traditional grower base in the Americas – offers opportunities for sales’ growth. “We are an international grower owned cooperative with farms throughout North, Central and South America and we are open to members in other parts of the world as well. We are adding a lot of growers in Europe, Eastern Europe and Northern Africa to complement our offer so that we get a good, strong all year round offer.” Philip mentions that last autumn in Spain berries were planted, with more to be planted this year. For the coming autumn and spring 2024 plantings in North Africa, Portugal and Egypt are on the agenda.
Closing the gap
“We have a huge opportunity to fill the gap, where we traditionally do not have so much production volume in the European summer months. We have been very strong in the Southern Hemisphere production period and now we are filling the gap with the summer months.” Philip observes that the growing European berry production does not only boost volume and therefore creates sales opportunities, it also addresses the increasing consumer focus on local production. “It is important that we have local production. It doesn’t make sense to bring in a lot of fruit from other parts of the world in, for instance the peak Spanish season, when there are good volumes produced here in Europe.”
Philip sees closing the production gap, adding products, like figs and vegetables, to the portfolio and the focus on Sekoya varieties as the key drivers for growth. North Bay is one of the members of the Fall Creek Sekoya Group that targets improving the blueberry eating experience for consumers. “We are growing with our partners in the premium segment with our new Sekoya varieties, which we are aiming to offer year round to our retail partners. We grow the consumer demand for blueberries and that is where we see the future: in the premium segment. And the same goes for blackberries and raspberries, where we are also doing a lot of work on genetics to get the better tasting fruits with a better shelf life.”
Ultimate convenience snack
An important aspect for North Bay as Philip points out that it is key in repeat purchases from consumers. “We want to make sure we are delivering 52 weeks of the year, a superior, great tasting piece of fruit to consumers because we know that people then recognize the Sekoya brand and go back to pick these berries up.” The fact that berries do not need preparation prior to consumption is also helpful in boosting sales, mentions the sales director. “We are in the best place with the berry category. Selling pineapples or mangoes is much harder. That might be fantastic tasting fruit, but it is inconvenient. Berries are the ultimate convenience snack.”
For more information: 
North Bay Produce Europe
Tel.: +31 (0)6 1552 1989
[email protected]
www.northbayproduce.com