Despite ongoing inflation and uncertainty in the markets, the management of Westfalen Frischdienst in Hamm, Germany, can look back on a strong financial year in 2024. The wholesale company, founded in 2017, was able to record a renewed increase in both sales and customers. Now it is important to stay in the game and set the strategic course for the future, confirms Murat Günes in an on-site interview.
The facade of the Hammer cash and carry.
A few days before Christmas, the highly frequented cash and carry on the outskirts of Hamm is very busy. Almost 3,000 items, including a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, are offered for sale in an area of around 1,000m2 (including offices and cold storage and refrigeration rooms). The young company's growing customer base mainly includes restaurateurs of all kinds, about two-thirds of whom pick up the goods on-site. "Our full range and is open 365 days a year attracts both wholesale and private customers. We have found a good niche here."
Insights into the company's wide range of vegetables. Clockwise from top left: Spanish iceberg lettuce, the last Natura vine tomatoes of the 2024 season, Polish mushrooms and Spanish vegetable onions.
Shortages expected for Spanish vegetables
Founder and sales manager Murat Günes has a great passion for fruit and vegetables and, after many years in the industry, took the plunge into self-employment in 2017. An absolute hit in the vegetable range is the Natura vine tomatoes from the neighboring Netherlands. "Due to the energy crisis, the item disappeared from the range quite early in 2023. However, this year we will be able to offer it again until Christmas. For cucumbers, we switched from the Netherlands to Spain in calendar week 49. There was a sharp and untypical price reduction for iceberg lettuce shortly before Christmas, which is again due to the abundant supply situation. Availability is still good, but due to the extreme weather conditions in large parts of Spain, there will be some bottlenecks in the fruit-vegetable sector in January, whether it's cucumbers, iceberg lettuce, or tomatoes. This in turn will lead to corresponding price increases in the entire vegetable category."
Polish mushrooms are also among the strongest year-round products of Westfalen Frischdienst GmbH. The finer assortment is particularly popular at Christmas markets. During the remaining months of the year, the medium assortment is most in demand. "Until calendar week 50, we received full quantities, so we were able to meet demand without any problems. In the course of calendar week 51, the quantities on offer were no longer sufficient, which is why we sometimes had to sell a no," says Günes.
This year, his son Michael (left) devoted more time to the exotic section for the first time. There was particularly strong interest in passion fruit and yellow pitahaya.
Lack of space and growth strategy
After the energy crisis in 2022/23, the procurement situation calmed down somewhat last year, but the market is still considered to be unstable. Günes: "Due to the precarious shortage of staff, there have been many insolvencies, particularly in the restaurant industry. Unfortunately, the outlook for the overall economic situation in the coming year is not particularly rosy either."
Nevertheless, the company was able to record encouraging sales growth in 2024, and in the coming year, the goal is to further expand both sales and the customer base, reveals Günes. Here, it is important to always adapt to circumstances. "Due to the lack of space, we are literally reaching our capacity limits, which is why we had to redefine our business structure. As a result, we have shrunk our basic range from around 4,000 items to around 2,900 this year. In the medium term, we want to get down to 2,000 items that we have permanently in stock. This is not at the expense of our product diversity, by the way; we will continue to offer the remaining items on a pre-order basis."
The team at Westfalen Frischdienst GmbH. From left to right: Murat Günes, his wife and managing director Sultan Günes, their son Michael, and a long-standing employee. The company employs a total of eight people (including management).
For more information:
Murat Günes
Westfalen Frischdienst GmbH
Gallberger Weg 35
59063 Hamm
Tel: +49 (2381) 904 99-10
[email protected]
www.westfalenfrischdienst.de