Wholesaler Kees Rijswijk has been active in the fresh produce trade for 53 years, and his emphasis has been on pears for the last 17 of those. He also takes care of the purchasing for Fruithandel Rijswijk & Van der Gulik, of which his daughter Gerda is the boss. The experienced fruit trader is relieved about the course of the pear season so far: “Up till now, it wasn’t all that bad. Everyone who has good pears, knows there’ll be room for them near the end of the season, meaning the final part during July and August.”
Kees Rijswijk and his daughter Gerda from Fruithandel Rijswijk & Van der Gulik
“Business is lively from Europe. Our neighbours to the south continue to sell, and I expect they will be out of product in about a month-and-a-half, which will result in more and more Belgians coming here to buy pears. The question is how the pears will be, qualitatively, from May until July. After all, they all experienced temperatures of more than thirty degrees Celsius late September. The Comice and Lukassen seasons were without problems all the way to the end, which is good news for Conference.”
“Currently, prices of 45s are around 35 cent, 50s are around 50 cent, 55s are around 60 cent, 60s are between 65 and 68 cent, 65s between 70 and 74 cent, 70s between 76 and 79 cent and 75s are more than 80 cent. This is true for good batches of pears, slightly poorer quality immediately drops by more than 5 cent,” Kees says. “I expect a slightly increasing market of no more than a few cents until Easter. After Easter I expect a more significant run on good pears, and market prices will increase a bit more.”
For more information:
Groothandel C. Rijswijk
Nieuwe Haven 69
1135 VM Edam
Mob: +31 (0)6 53 17 31 49
groothandelrijswijk@kpnmail.nl