Hans van Pol and Pascal Rutten have formed the management of the Venlo Cash&Carry wholesaler Eurofresh as successors to Jan Kleeven, who left for good at the end of September 2015. The company has a total package of Dutch, Belgian and German trade, complimented by more and more Spanish and Italian import. "We serve customers here with 1 to 500 boxes. Around 99% of the trade is picked up here by the customers with their own cars. They are asking us to prepare their orders more and more often. This shows the faith of our customers."
Hans and Pascal
Using your own power
Up until 2012 Eurofresh was the first company you came upon at Fresh Park Venlo. At the same time as the Floriade the entrance was moved and the wholesale lost its unique location. "We were a bit baffled for a while. People used to drive onto the estate and be at our door. Thankfully, we are seeing that our turnover hasn't suffered. We learned to use our own power from this, but you often don't realise it until afterwards," says Hans.
At least 60% of Eurofresh's customers are from Germany, of which many are of Turkish and Moroccan origin. "We notice that the market trade in Germany is struggling with finding successors, partially due to the large competition from the retail. But we don't see out customer base decreasing. We have gotten more catering clients in recent years," says Hans. "The advantage of the Cash&Carry trade is that you are close to the creditors. We don't have full trucks on the road to the East Block, are close and have day to day contact with our customers."
Eurofresh mainly sources their products from the auctions, in Venlo as well as in Belgium and the German Landgard, but also from importers on the estate. "Most of our trade consists of products that made the Dutch trade great, such as tomatoes and cucumbers. At the moment we also offer various lettuce varieties. We aren't bound to growers. The advantage of this is that you also aren't bound to a price or have to buy a product that isn't going well. We want to decide what we buy and where. The mild winter with wide supplies is extremely favourable for our type of company."
Attraction of estate
"We used to buy the bulk from Veiling ZON, but because previous large amounts don't come before the clock in Venlo anymore, we are heading to Belgium increasingly often," says Pascal. "It doesn't matter to us where we buy our tomatoes, but it does matter that the estate holds its attractions and the auction is the binding factor in this. Customers don't just come here for Eurofresh. Of course we are also each others competitors, but we profit from the large supply on the estate together. It is our job to ensure the customers end up with us with a good price and quality."
Attraction of estate
"We used to buy the bulk from Veiling ZON, but because previous large amounts don't come before the clock in Venlo anymore, we are heading to Belgium increasingly often," says Pascal. "It doesn't matter to us where we buy our tomatoes, but it does matter that the estate holds its attractions and the auction is the binding factor in this. Customers don't just come here for Eurofresh. Of course we are also each others competitors, but we profit from the large supply on the estate together. It is our job to ensure the customers end up with us with a good price and quality."
When asked where the company will be in five years, Hans replies with laughter: "We won't be on the stock market anyway. But in seriousness, we hope for a healthy growth and if that's a few percent every year, we're not doing too badly. We all have faith in the future and this is why we recently also invested in a new cooling installation and iPads will soon also enter the warehouse sales."
For more information:
Pascal Rutten
Eurofresh
Venrayseweg 112a
5928 RH Venlo
Tel. 0031 (0) 77-3241111
Fax. 0031 (0) 77-3241122
[email protected]
www.eurofresh.nl
