Fruit Logistica
During the Fruit Logistica, Don Limón will have four booths, a Mexican booth, a booth for Honduras / Central America, an Indian one and a Hamburg / German booth. The Hamburg booth will be used for presentations. “We have a big project planned for Fruit Logistica, we are even expecting ministers or representatives from India, and I would like to make some noise about this,” Andreas continues. “We are in close contact with the development organisation, we expect them to also visit us at the fair. We are trying to get the attention of the German government. We have also invited people from the Indian and the Ecuadorian governments, we are trying to make some noise. People need to learn what sustainability is, what Corporate Social Responsibility is. That is a gap on the market that we are trying to capitalise on.”
Supply chain management
“We are still seen as the small guy from the closed market who is trading some fruit. But we have actually become a supply chain management company with a focus on sustainability,” Andreas explains. “That is what supermarkets are supposed to pay attention to, because of European Corporate Social Responsibility laws. They have to write reports on their sustainability, and to make the supply chain more transparent, and that is what we are working on. That is also why we need to change our image from only being an importer, to a company that focuses on sustainable supply. We are also trying to make organic more conventional. I see a huge market for that at the moment.”
Government aid
“We are trying to get government subsidies for smaller development projects. We want to financially support small producers. Normally, people from financial institutions get a lot of money for all these huge projects in Africa, but they just burn the money. We think we are really doing something good, but we do not quite understand how to get funds from the government. That is what we are working on, we are trying to change our image and we are trying to learn how to get financial aid from the government. We are working on becoming stronger, gaining more knowledge and getting a more professional image, in order to get the attention of donors, such as the Bill Gates Foundation. The problem, however, is that you need the knowledge of an importer, but the donors do not want reporters.”
“I am very excited. We have several things to report on, but CSR and the sustainability management in particular are very important. We want to change the world, and we want our business to make sense. That is the big message, not just making fruit, but also making sense. After all, every decision you make has to make sense, and that is what we are working on with our company,” Andreas concludes.
For more information:Andreas Schindler
Pilz Schindler GmbH
Tel: +49 0 40 3095499 45
Mob: +49 0 171 8583 211
aschindler@pilz-schindler.de
www.don-limon.de