The Belgium company Calsa is an importer and exporter of a wide range of fruit and vegetables. The most important produce that they trade are leeks, carrots, greenhouse veg, apples, pears and stone fruit (nectarines and peaches). Bernard Buyck says that in 1950 his father started the company and only sold potatoes. "The range has expanded over the years and there are also more customers. At the moment we deliver our produce to about 20 countries, of which Russia, France, Spain and other Eastern Block countries are the biggest customers."
"We speak the language of the customer"
He indicates that there are many new countries and that they grow by 10 to 15% per year in turnover. "It differs per product, for example we export much more peaches to various distant destinations. Some times it is difficult to trade: the Euro is, in relation to other currencies such as the Dollar and Ruble, not to our advantage. That complicates exports. "Calsa finds it important that they speak the language of the customer. "This makes the trade smoother. We also find it important to be ready, 'no' is not in our dictionary. 'Respond quickly', is our starting point." Calsa markets a large part of the range under the brand Ar'delice. "Both home grown fruit and veg, as well as the import range is offered under this brand." Logistically Calsa is in the perfect position, in Ardooie. "In addition we have a sister company Weiss in Sint-Katelijne-Waver and an office in Sint-Truiden, Belgium. So we are well palced over all of Belgium.
Nationalism
Nationalism
Through-out Europe desire for domestic produce is growing. "People want more and more home grown produce and that is being encouraged by Governments, also in Belgium. Take France, who was our largest customer. These days they take less and less, actually only if they have insufficient produce themselves. You need to export to more countries to sell your produce, that won't get any better in the future. To survive you need to keep on growing. Over production is becoming a bigger problem."
Expansion
Due to the yearly growth Calsa will shortly expand to 3200 m2. The storage area is 9 meters high and completely made from concrete. "We noticed that in peak time we didn't have enough cold storage so we decided to invest in a new modern commercial building."
For more information:
