“Connecting link between Dutch customers and Spanish parent company”

From May 2016, the Spanish transport company, Transports Tarragona, has had local representation in the Netherlands. Johan Reitsma, who has been active in the world of transport for twenty years already, is responsible for this with his agency Foodlogicx in Amersfoort. “For years, they have been driving from Spain and Portugal to destinations such as the UK, Germany, Romania and Bulgaria. The Netherlands is the hub for the European fruit and vegetable production and trade. With our Dutch office, we can serve our customers even better. There are cooperation agreements with national distributors to keep the network in every country continuously closed.”

“Transports Tarragona has been in existence for 65 years, and has a fleet of vehicles that will be expanded to 150 lorries this year. It is a true family company, that still has the founder’s family at the helm. They have the capacity to serve major customers, but combine that with short lines,” Reitsma says. “Fresh produce is an important part of that packet. A large part of the fleet has been equipped with DualTemp, so that the load can be transported with two different temperatures, both cooling and freezing.”

According to Reitsma, having a separate location in the Netherlands offers a number of advantages. “We were not well-known in the Benelux. From here, I have every opportunity to visit customers in the Benelux. That definitely bears fruit. I function, as it were, as the connecting link to translate the market wishes from the Benelux to our Spanish parent company. In the Netherlands, they are often somewhat sceptical of Spanish transporters. They say that ‘during certain seasons they do not stop ringing you, and during others they are never home.’ We want to work towards a database of customers with fixed transportation lines, so that we can give guarantees year-round, regardless of weather and seasons. That way, both sides can relax.”

The Dutch representation is so popular, that plans have been made to further expand their activities. “The first increase of new customers has already happened. In the long term, the company also wants a Dutch entity with its own operational departments. As you can see, plenty of challenges for the coming year.”