888 Fruit Company from Rungis has started importing fresh longan and fresh young coconuts from Thailand. "The first containers will arrive at Cool Control in Maasdijk on Friday," says Nico Schaft. "We started importing fresh longan last year and it has gone well. We receive the longan in packages of 3 kg. We collaborate with the firm Boonmee for this, who are fully certified in this product."
Longan is also known as dragon eye in Asia and is a distant relative of the lychee. In Asia the longan is used for various things, such as in soup for medicinal purposes. According to Nico the demand for longan is also big in the Asia target group in Europe. "The peak of sales is during the Moon festival, which will be held on the 19th of September this year. This is a big festival for the Chinese and we have a lot of demand for the longan from all over Europe. The Thai lychee season is over, and only longan remains. We are importing around the same volumes as last year. The season is reasonably short with a period of three months. We will be loading the last containers this week."
888 Fruit Company will also receive the first young, cut coconuts from Thailand. "As it is nice weather, I think we will be able to sell them well. Consumers like to drink from the coconuts during nice weather. We receive the nuts in packages of nine," says Nico. The company will also receive the first Chinese Nashi pears on Friday, followed by the first Chinese pomelos. "We are a reasonably big pomelo importer on the French market, with a focus on chain stores."
For more information:
Nico Schaft
888 Fruit Company
Rungis, Frankrijk
Tel: +33 145603640
Mobiel: +33 609814815
E-mail