Pieter Devos with pears from the house brand Numero Uno
"Apples and pears are our core business. The business process consists of four aspects. First the fruit cultivation, then comes storage (refrigerated), packing and finally trading. Devos Group has an area of 130 hectares of fruit and with the new planting, we will grow to 150 acres. "We specialise in the cultivation of Conférence and our own apple brand called Primo. In addition, we cultivate various other apple and pear varieties. The focus is on the best quality."
Capacity of 8 million kilos of ULO cold storage
"We now have a capacity of 8 million kilos of ULO cold storage. In addition, products are packed here. We have two sorting / packing lines, one for apples and one for pears. A second one was added six months ago. This allows us to process even greater volumes: 6 tonnes of apples per hour and 10 tonnes of pears per hour."
One of the production lines
"Besides our own products, we also store and package fruit for third parties. We can still use more volumes given the growing capacity, due to the investments, into the new packaging line. The majority of the products are packaged under the Numero Uno house brand."
Club variety Primo
"We introduced own apple brand called Primo 20 years ago. We were pioneers and one of the first with a club variety. We wanted to differentiate ourselves from the Jonagold, for example. The beautiful deep red colour and delicious sweet and sour taste makes for an apple with added value. The energy we have put into this niche product has not been in vain. We ensure that the volume of this variety stays limited. It must remain an exclusive variety. The area of Primo is now about 100 hectares and it is grown by a dozen growers. We are currently working on something exclusive for pears as well and we expect a similar success in the future as we did with the Primo."Variety of customers
"We provide year round consistent quality because we keep everything in our own hands; the trust of our customers that we deliver quality products is increasing by the year. This is something we can guarantee. We have the advantage that we are flexible and dynamic as a family business. In addition, the customers are satisfied with our service. Our customers include supermarkets in Belgium. "Initially we focussed on supplying our own markets. Then came France, Spain and the Canary Islands, Scandinavia, Russia and other Eastern European countries. The last named countries just joined us last year as customers.""We certainly expect to grow as a company in the future, but that takes time. Our main focus is on our current production and customers and what we do, we want to do well. We do not want to grow faster than we can handle, instead, we want to approach the market responsibly," concludes Peter.
The Devos Group is a family business that consists of two separate companies, Devos Fruit and Devos Stables. Devos Fruit is a fruit grower and export company with its own packaging company Devosort. Alongside the fruit, they also trade in vegetables, mostly leeks. These are also marketed under its own brand name. Devos Stables is a separate company that stands for the highest level of sport horses.
Devos Group is present at Fruit Logistica - Hall 6.2/B-06.
For more information:
Devos Group BVBA
Wijndriesstraat 12
3460 Bekkevoort - Belgium
Tel.: +32(0)16/77.97.58
Fax.: +32(0)16/77.93.58
[email protected]
www.devosgroup.com
