“Consumer must be able to buy clementine blindly”

BB Fruit was established two years ago. After years of experience in the fruit trade, Ben van der Bom and Bart Peek considered it time to start their own business. "We wanted to do it our own way, no more endless meetings, just sell fruit the old-fashioned way.”

BB Fruit specializes in the import of fruit from southern Europe and Morocco. The company provides year-round oranges, clementines and bananas. “Fruit with a smile, that’s our motto. The more fun you have in your work, the better the results. This enthusiasm and lightness can be found in our daily operations," says Ben. "We prefer not to spend all day at the office handling phone calls and emails. We like to be on the road and try to visit our suppliers and customers frequently.”

“Which doesn’t mean we’re not a serious trading company,” interjects Bart. “We’ve existed for only two years, but both of us have over 25 years of experience." However, you won’t encounter mass product at BB Fruit. The business focuses on presentation and quality instead of quantity. According to Ben, the biggest challenge is in finding the best possible price / quality ratio, especially for clementines. "We want a continuous supply of quality. One bad batch, and the customer might stay away. For the Spanish citrus fruit we have a regular supplier who can provide this continuity. Consumers have to be able to buy the fruit blindly."

Nimbus
The Spanish citrus is marketed under the brand Nimbus. This fruit comes from a fixed shipper between Castellon and Valencia. Ben: "It's a family business with their own plantations. We market all their citrus. The company is based in a real clementine region. We also have a very strong bond with this merchant. They are very involved in the sale of their fruit. That way they know exactly what we need and vice versa. That’s precisely the kind of partnership we’re looking for.”

Russia
Besides citrus, BB Fruit also imports persimmons from Spain. A market that Ben believes is saturated by now. "This you can already tell by the prices. Production exceeds demand. That the large sizes, which normally go to Russia, are now offloaded at local markets makes the situation even worse."

The Russian import ban, however, doesn’t seem to burden Ben, on the contrary. He says that many Spanish exporters now know how to find them. "Companies that can’t sell their products start looking for other opportunities, and I find this works in our favour." Ben looks back on a positive start for BB Fruit. "To what do we owe this success? I think the fact that we do business the old-fashioned way, we pay suppliers on time and treat our customers with enthusiasm.”

More information:
BB Fruit
Ben van der Bom
E: ben@bbfruit.nl
W: www.bbfruit.nl