SpecialTom opens import office in Spain

Three years ago, Jean-Paul Nuijten started his company SpecialTom, and in cooperation with Marexport BV and a Moroccan cooperative, he started importing a wide range of tomatoes from Morocco and Spain. SpecialTom grew big, especially with Santa-like tomatoes. “Together with our fellow shareholder in Marexport BV, we imported a very good and qualitatively strong product in Angelle, Vittorino, Cherry, mini Kumato and Bambeno in the Netherlands, and we have served many new customers. Our production in Morocco is increasingly driven by cultivating in a Dutch manner, and we have imported a qualitatively fine product this season, and we have created sales in various new retail channels,” Nuijten explains.

While Nuijten started as the only commercial employee three years ago, by now there are six commercial, one logistical and two administrative employees working for his company. In the past year, the company has strongly developed in many ways: the quality of their own production in Morocco has improved, they moved to a new building, they started their own import office in Spain, (in cooperation with Helmer BV), brought in a new automation system and further expanded their commercial team.

“In recent years, we have grown considerably in the import from Morocco and Spain, and not just in tomatoes: bell peppers, cucumbers, aubergines, courgettes and even citrus are now part of our permanent range from both Morocco and Spain. This is mostly due to demand from customers, but we have also shown suppliers that we have the strength to sell their product. We are now trying to realise what we promised our suppliers and customers: meeting agreements is the basis for a good cooperation,” Nuijten explains.

In order to have more control over everything, to keep lines short and to be able to guarantee continuity, SpecialTom opened its own import office in Valencia on 1 December 2016. Kees Kik, who has years of experience, runs the office. Kik is a former colleague of Nuijten, and they know each other well. Nuijten is convinced that Kik will be a valuable addition to the company, with his years of experience. “Thanks to Kees’s efforts, we can expand our assortment with quality suppliers. For example, we recently started importing Chocolate Navel oranges, and have now started importing strawberries and raspberries from Huelva. We can now also offer the complete citrus range from Spain in response to customer requests. This summer, we will market the import of Spanish stone fruit under our own brand. We are working hard to be ready for this in time, and are talking to suppliers and customers so that the lines will operate as well as possible regarding buying and selling our products.”

The automation within SpecialTom has also been completely scrutinised. “As of October 2016, we have chosen to work with Profix IT. They developed a tailor-made programme for us, and we are very satisfied with the results. It is a very flexible and clear programme, which is very user-friendly for everyone in our company. Furthermore, the advantage of Profix is that when there is a problem, you give them a ring and they immediately have a solution. The reports you need for a good and healthy operational management are in the packet, and it is well-organised and affordable.”

SpecialTom has the entire logistical process carried out by Helmer, which is a professional organisation that knows what it is doing, according to Nuijten. “They take care of everything logistical and that is going very well. They have ‘unburdened’ us as regards logistics, and we can completely focus on commerce, which is what we are good at. Helmer takes care of the rest of the process and is connected to our automation system, which means lines are short and the chance of mistakes is practically non-existent. Lens Transport takes care of nearly all of our domestic transports, and that is also going well.”

As regards quality, SpecialTom is cooperating with Quality Connection. “Lines here are also short, and they know what quality we expect from our suppliers. Everyone is informed and Quality Connection takes care of a large part of food safety, which is an important aspect in our supply chain.”

“After the vegetable import season from Spain and Morocco, we will start the summer with the import of stone fruit from Spain, Morocco and Italy. Additionally, we will also sell the entire melon range, under our new brand ‘Jillies,’ named after my youngest daughter, as much as possible,” Nuijten continues. “We would like to offer the complete Dutch range to our customers, but you need your own cultivators for that, and we are not yet ready for that. It is no use for us to start competing with larger Dutch exporters who have their own cultivators at their disposal. If we had to buy from them, margins would be very minimal, but we are looking for a good partner in this field.”

“We have also ensured good sales of our own import product by means of cooperating well with larger Dutch parties. Because even for them it is not always possible to import everything themselves. It can therefore be a good interaction, and we can strengthen each other, which is, in my opinion, better than only competing with each other,” Nuijten says.

The SpecialTom team has been further strengthened: “We now have a good mix of young people and experienced people, and it is wonderful to see how they strengthen each other,” according to Nuijten. “They correct each other when needed, and they are people who care about the company, and as an entrepreneur, this is one of the things I am proud of, the social aspect is also part of being an entrepreneur.”