Triportugal is a platform to commercialize the products, which are mainly bought from 2 packing houses in Portugal. Strategic alliances help them to also supply products to their clients, which they aren't producing themselves. They also import goods from Southern Hemisphere especially to supply the domestic market. The goals of Triportugal of working with this structure are to increase supply, reduce costs, and become more efficient.
The main product of Triportugal is the Rocha pear, of which they export approximately 20,000 tons annually. “Over the past 20 years we were in the top 3 list of exporters of the Rocha pear. As well plums are an important product, as we export about 3,000 tons. The same amount of apples is distributed, but this is mainly for the domestic market, except Royal Gala, which is also sold abroad. We produce for both the domestic market and for export. In the domestic market, we supply the three main supermarkets. Our export markets differ per product”, explains Ricardo.
“There is enough demand on the domestic market, to sell our full apple production. However, we believe it's important to still export a small percentage of the total production, especially Royal Gala, to mainly the UK and the Middle East, continues Ricardo. “However, the pears and plums are exported in much bigger volume. The export markets for plums are the UK, Middle East and Brazil. Our export of pears is worldwide, so also the UK, Ireland, Brazil, Africa, Middle East, Morrocco, Germany and more.”
Ricardo explains that indeed new potential markets are on their radar. “A good example to mention is the Middle East. As we only started exporting 1 and a half year ago. It has been a success so far and we only notice a growth in demand for our products. However, there are still some potential markets such as Asia and South American countries and Mexico. Asia is difficult, as currently only Hongkong and Singapore is open for export, but the goal is to eventually export to India and China. South American countries are more likely to open first, as there are developments already in authorizing this.
He points out that they deal with some competition in the export market. “For example, for plums we compete with Spain and Italy. As with pears we compete with for example Holland, Belgium and Italy. However, the Rocha pear is a unique product, so it doesn't compete directly with the varieties from these countries. It's a mix of a crunchy and sweet pear. Sometimes sizes are smaller, but the soil and weather result in a different taste and texture. And Rocha pear has a great conservation capacity meaning it can travel long distances keeping the same quality standards. The difficulty is a small gap of no production of the Rocha pear in June and July, but we are working towards a year round supply.”
Triportugal is in the middle of their plums season, which will run till September/October. Ricardo concludes that indeed it's a season with less volumes, however the price levels are still good. “Sometimes there is too much volume in the market that cause lower prices. The lower volumes this season result in higher prices than last year, which make up for the production loss. At this moment the lower volumes aren't a threat.”
For more information: Ricardo Silva
Triportugal
T: +351 262 600 272
E: Ricardo@triportugal.pt
www.triportugal.pt