Last year, René Welles decided to take up sales of his cucumbers himself, and he presented himself at AGF Detail for the first time. At the current edition of the trade show, the grower looks back on the first year with satisfaction. "With three clients buying 85% of the volume, I immediately had constancy. We aimed to have one retailer without too much focus on the German market, and we succeeded in that."
Welles has two greenhouse horticulture locations in the Dutch towns of America and Grubbenvorst, with a total acreage of 9 hectares. "I had anticipated more teething problems with the sales. Quite soon I found out that I am pretty much the only free cucumber grower in the Netherlands, and buyers appreciate that. At first you still think a lot like a grower, but as a salesman you learn to inform your customers on whether you expect greater or smaller supplies. Around Easter, we were tested for a while, when we had a big promotion and the market was tight, but after buying a bit extra, fortunately we were able to fulfil our commitments."
After a few tough cucumber years, the cucumber growers had a reason to be satisfied this year. "August was really a top month. It was extremely warm, productions in the south were down, and we had sufficient supplies to meet the tripled demand. Everything contributed to a proper price. September was a bit less, but still very good. In all those years of cucumbers, I've never seen such a long period of good prices. That's nice after all those difficult years."
And as far as René is concerned, those prices will be here to stay for a while. "With illuminated cultivation, we will continue with Dutch cucumbers until week 50. We could even supply year-round, but there has to be a half way value price. Of course those illuminated cucumbers are more expensive than Spanish supplies, but customers are able to stand out with year-round Dutch cucumbers."
The high prices this season cause buyers to show up earlier this season. "They want to safeguard themselves, and not buy so much extra as this season, with sky-high prices. Last season we were new, and we had to garner interest. Now there is already a lot of demand for next year. We're even facing a dilemma whether to expand our offerings, but that's a luxury problem!"
Welles BV is still at AGF Detail (stand 343).
For more information:
Welles BV
Sintelweg 1
Grubbenvorst
Mob: +31(0)6-51087052
info@wellesbv.nl
www.wellesbv.nl