Every day at 5am at AGF Overtoom at the Food Center in Amsterdam, the doors open to the public. "In particular, many greengrocers and marketers come here to get their trade themselves. The catering industry mainly has the trade delivered," says owner Mustafa Ozdemir. He has a long history in the AGF industry. In 1995, Mustafa started his first specialist shop Serhat Market Amsterdam, followed by the second shop, Overtoom Groente en Fruitspecialist, in 2007. The move to the wholesale market followed in 2013.
The Amsterdam-based company started as an AGF specialist, but has since grown into a total supplier of fresh, convenience and frozen products, along with a complete service package of dry grocery products. However, AGF products still form the bulk of the wholesale business, which is based on three pillars: the fast-growing export business in recent years, stable sales to market vendors and ethnic shops and deliveries to the catering industry in 'Greater Amsterdam'.
A real speciality of AGF Overtoom is Turkish fruit and vegetables. "Since 2014, we have been importing directly from Turkey ourselves and two per week the truck arrives in Amsterdam, every Monday and Thursday. This way, we can guarantee fresh Turkish fruit and vegetables to our customers. From tomatoes to peppers and pomegranates, that's where we can really distinguish ourselves with direct imports," says Mustafa.
Additionally, AGF Overtoom imports directly from Morocco, Spain and Italy. "Due to the bad weather, sales towards the catering industry are lagging a bit this year. Watermelon sales in particular are suffering. We are not complaining, but it is a bit quieter. Hopefully, we will get sunnier weather soon; the trade will pick up then," says Mustafa. He is happy with the spread of activities. "If things are quieter in the hospitality industry, we can focus a bit more on exports again. Meanwhile, we export throughout Europe."
AGF Overtoom employs 30 people. The company sees its future at the Food Centre and has also indicated it would like to go along with a new building when the site is restructured. "For us, this cannot happen soon enough, as we have been waiting for it for quite a few years and we do not yet know when exactly it will start, but we are ready," concludes Mustafa.
For more information:
Mustafa Ozdemir
AGF Overtoom
Central Wholesale Market 131
1051 LJ Amsterdam
+31 (0)20 486 5348
[email protected]
www.agfovertoom.nl