Several months ago, De Notekraker from Belgium introduced the new concept Pernoix: cups filled with several mixes of nuts, dried fruit and vegetables. Peter de Brauwer, manager of the company, indicates that the market is slowly growing. “We mostly supply them to traditional shops, such as specialist shops, butchers, bakeries and greengrocers. Sales are going well, volume have definitely increased since we started.”
We are still in a sort of testing phase with Pernoix. “Serving these traditional channels gives us a chance to start calmly, and to solve possible growing pains. Experience is the best teacher,” says De Brauwer. “We currently offer eight different mixes. Combinations in the cups are very versatile. For example, we have the party mix with peanuts and rice crackers, or the veggie crisps with red beets, sweet potato and carrot.” All flavours can be found at www.pernoix.eu.
Calmer period
“Now, during the European Championship, demand for nuts is not any higher than usual,” De Brauwer thinks. “Demand is even calmer than during the same period last year. There are several reasons for this.” Firstly, the weather is very disappointing. There is very little sunshine. Because catering establishments cannot open their outdoor cafés, a large part of the commercial surface is not available. We notice that very well in our bulk sales. There is another problem that has influence on the lower sales. “We notice many of our customers in the catering industry are in trouble because of the terrorist threat. The number of tourists in Brussels in particular decreased, and the catering industry has not yet reached its previous level. The threat is still there.” For more information:
Peter De Brauwer
De Notekraker bvba
't Lindeke 10
B-8880
St. Eloois - Winkel (Belgium)
www.denotekraker.eu