In 2014, Robbie Bloemendaal took over activities from his employer The Greenery Central Europe, and with his company Total Fresh, he started supplying local Romanian retail. By doing so, he jumped onto a growing market. “Before Romania entered the EU in 2007, a large part of fresh produce sales still took place through greengrocer’s shops. Retailers mostly took over that business. All supermarket chains are expanding here. In the past, traders from all over the country would make their purchases at the wholesaler’s market in Bucharest. That is happening less and less. Our sales nearly doubled in the past year.”
“We try to supply a complete packet. We currently have an abundance of exotics, such as pineapple, avocado and mango. The fresh produce consumption is at a high level in Romania. About 60 per cent of income is spent on food in Romania, and luxurious products are taking up an ever larger space,” Robbie says. “We currently still do plenty of Polish apples, but we also supply many carrots, celeriac and onions. Consumption of large vegetables is at a high level in Romania, and these are mostly eaten raw. We normally also sell many tomatoes, but we currently keep a low pace with Spanish vegetables. Romanians are currently charging 1.59 per kilogram of tomatoes from Turkey and Azerbaijan in shops. We should therefore not bring tomatoes worth 12 euro on the market.”
“As a matter of fact, we import the entire fresh produce assortment from the Netherlands, Spain and Poland between September and July. Local product enters the market from May. For us, it is still going to be a challenge to play a larger role in the sales of local vegetables on both the local Romanian market and the export markets. We are also trying to set up some more direct lines from overseas. Fortunately, people are also working hard on giving the port a boost,” Robbie explains. He has not yet regretted moving to Romania: “It is a bit cold right now, but that is the case throughout Europe at the moment. I like the culture. There is not much control. People visit us at six o’ clock in the evening, and that is enjoyable.”
Robbie will be at the Fruit Logistica in Berlin at 9 and 10 February. Companies that are interested in exporting to Romania, can always contact him.
For more information:
Robbie Bloemendaal
Total Fresh SRL
Tel. +40 (0)747 195 800
R.bloemendaal@total-fresh.com