Easy, healthy and quick
According to Jan consumers are looking for new products that are healthy and fresh. "I promote my products at various events and fairs and people are very enthusiastic, but they can't buy them because supermarkets refuse to take them up into their assortment. For instance, the microwavable vegetables. Consumers think this is ideal. They want a pure and honest product and something that's quick and easy to prepare. They have a choice between all kinds of microwavable vegetables, beans, asparagus, chicory, you name it. Right now all they can get in the way of ready meals in the supermarkets are full of salt and preservatives. We add a little salt or herbs and a lump of butter to our products. That's all. These are the kind of products the market is asking for. Heat them for five minutes and you're done. The product will cook in its own juices and is pure and tasty."
New ideas not welcome at supermarkets
"The stampbal is an innovative snack with the traditional Dutch hotpot without the bread as its base. We also offer various hotpots and use various seasonal products for this. In the supermarkets we sometimes see hotpots when it's 30 degrees outside, whilst we have amazing green beans, kohlrabi, and asparagus. This is against nature. Supermarkets don't want to offer a lot of our products because they want to keep particular affairs in their own hands. They can't produce it on a large scale and don't want to pay added value to companies like us. At the places I present my products, buyers are interested in the product. It's bizarre that the people who are above the buyers, don't want a product that people are interested in to end up on the shelves. New ideas in fruit and vegetables aren't welcome at the supermarkets. I think they need a wake up call!"
Fair price for growers
"I had the microwavable vegetables on the shelves of one C1000 for a while, but that didn't last long. Vegetable shops might be interested in these products. My main goal isn't even to increase my own production. They can do this themselves if they get a sealing machine. It's about increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables and growers getting a fair price for their products. The costs for making this possible aren't that high, and we can determine a price in agreement with the grower. I think a lot of people in Holland won't mind paying a bit more for a fair product."
"Supermarkets not cooperating"
According to Jan, the clue is in the supermarket managers, who want to keep control of the production for themselves. "Buyers want innovation, but they're being stopped. They shouldn't be ignoring so many new and good things!
For instance, vine tomatoes are now being sold for 69 cents per kilo in the supermarkets. How can this be! There has been dissatisfaction among growers for a while, and it's only getting worse. On the 25th of June the auction price for chicory was 36 cents per kilo, 30 cents per kilo for cauliflower, 52 cents per kilo for vine tomatoes. Can we give our growers lower prices? Frozen vegetables from Poland and Brazil are being eaten, and we're dropping our own growers. Jan expects the demand for microwavable vegetables to increase if it is given more attention. "If the supermarkets do it right, 10 to 15% of the total amount of fresh vegetables bought will be consumed this way."
For more information:
Jan van Eeuwijk
Ekra
Baansestraat 7b
5825 BW Overloon
Tel: +31 (0)478-642486
Fax: +31 (0)478-641395
[email protected]
www.ekra.nl
