"Simplicity back on restaurant plates"

During sunny weather a lot of people head to the coast and look for a terrace to sit. Catering suppliers certainly notice this. According to fruit and vegetable wholesaler Wim Tanghe from Blankeberge the weather is a great way to make a new start after quite a difficult winter. "A sunny weekend is on its way and the impact is huge. You basically go from 10 to 100 per hour. Sun means a hugely increased demand here, but that's typical for the coast."restaurant's

Asparagus and strawberries
Tanghe supplies the coastal area in the triangle of Bredene, Knokke and Brugge. "The first months of the year weren't too positive, but now it's all starting to come again. There is a lot of demand for strawberries and asparagus. Although there is the problem with asparagus that there is too little supply due to the cold. Because there was enough last season, importers ordered less Peruvian ones, so there aren't that many of them either. This is why the price is high. Today it was 22 Euro per kilo at the auction." He expects the price level to hold up for about another week. "More volume is expected next week, so it will go down again then. It's hard to make money from it at the moment, as you can add little to it. Yet everyone wants them, as they're on the menu. The summer vegetables are doing well. "Tomatoes and lettuce are in demand. The price of lettuce has dropped a lot due to the high supply. More is given for the special types of lettuce. 90 cents easily."

Simplicity back on Restaurant plates
Wim sees an important development in catering. "Because a lot of companies are finding it difficult and have to watch their costs, there is much more simplicity. People are going 'back to basics' when making up the dishes. There was a time when people wanted a lot of specialities and everything had to be as new and different as possible, but catering has moved away from that. There is still enough on the plate and it still looks good, but the atmosphere is different. More price conscious. More lettuce and tomatoes are used now."

Tomabel assortment

Fruit and vegetable wholesaler Wim Tanghe is specialised in supplying a full supply of potatoes, vegetable and fruit to catering, commercial kitchens and food shops. "As of recently we completely renewed the lorry park with cooling. We are also investing in various new techniques over the next while, which keeps the chain completely closed to guarantee an even better quality and freshness."

For more information:
Wim en Ann Tanghe
Wholesale Wim Tanghe
Evendijk-West 42
8370 Blankenberge - Belgium
tel 0032 (0) 50/41.45.59
fax 0032 (0) 50/41.50.09
Wim: 0032 (0) 496/52.58.58
Ann: 0032 (0) 496/52.61.61
www.wimtanghe.be
info@wimtanghe.be