The merger of Greenyard Foods was, to Hein Deprez, Executive Chairman of the Board, and Marleen Vaesen, CEO, a logical step in a long evolution. A double dialogue about fruits and vegetables – fresh, frozen and tinned – on a bed of substrates can be found in Greenyard Foods’ annual report, which was published this week.
With annual turnover of nearly €4 billion, Greenyard Foods is one of the largest suppliers of fruits and vegetables globally. It is the only group who can supply fresh, frozen or tinned fruits and vegetables, and can communicate about this. At the same time, Greenyard Foods also supports its cultivators via the substrate segment, unique in the sector.
Retail
Greenyard Foods’ most important buyer is Retail. Almost 90 per cent of the products go to supermarket chains. Greenyard Foods’ most important market country is Germany followed by the Netherlands.
Some questions from the conversation with Hein and Marleen:
How did the divisions react to the merger of their activities in one group?
Marleen Vaesen: Positively. We are aware that bringing together all that knowledge and expertise sets in motion a dynamic that can only reinforce their competitiveness in the future. It is a story about growth. We work from the strength of each division and look at where we can create new opportunities, both operationally and in the field of staff development. For example, we are already seeing interesting synergy possibilities between Horticulture (Peltracom) and Fresh (Univeg).How do you present those convenience-concepts concretely to consumers in the shops?
Marleen Vaesen: Nowadays we mostly do that in the form of combined presentations. Think of combination do-it-yourself kits. But in the future we might offer complete meal boxes, or combined shop displays in which all the fruits and vegetables can be found in one place. Of course, we have to support the retail channel in that, and that is what we are always working on.