Although the focus of Vegetables Market Place (VMP) was still only on tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers a few years ago, these days the company supplies a total assortment of fruits and vegetables to its customers. "Greenhouse vegetables remain the main product group, but we also found our way in fruit, citrus, exotics and other specialties in recent years," says Lennart Middelburg, who leads the company in Poeldijk together with his father Gert.
Lennart and Gert Middelburg
"We also grew strongly in the Dutch season in recent years and work well with a number of set growers, with whom we supply fresh produce to our customers every day. An important point is that the growers and growers unions know that our product is straight from the market. We keep as little stock as possible and it immediately goes to the customer to that we can supply them with produce that is as fresh as possible. We don't speculate, our buyers are the final customers," emphasises Lennart.
"These days it's no longer just about selling, think of all the certification, specification, traceability, food safety, documents and supply times. We want to define ourselves 'with a personal touch' by giving the customer an answer as soon as possible and arranging everything for them. This is why we work with and look for the best transporters that suit the customer best. This way we can unburden the customer as much as possible. We are trying to take care of an increasing amount of mixed loads for our customers and assure them of the complete package."
Polish tomatoes
New customers in Western Europe
Before the boycott Russia was the second largest export country for VMP, after the United Kingdom. "It was a hard pill to swallow when the boycott was put in place, as we supplied a number of large customers in Russia, but we soon found new customers, particularly in Western Europe. We have grown quickly with these customers," says Lennart. "We do still have a few Russian customers who load weekly mixed trucks with products from outside of the EU with the required (phyto) documentation with us."
VMP foresees the APS Group of British retailers of Dutch tomatoes. "The volumes have grown strongly again this year. We packaged a lot of product directly in foil for the British retail customers this season, which meant the product was even fresher on the shelves. We help think from Holland how to save the customer costs from harvesting to supplying the consumer," says Lennart.
He doesn't expect Brexit to have much impact on their export. "Of course we're keeping a close eye on it, just like the pound, which has been going up and down this year. But although the United Kingdom is producing more and more themselves, they will still always need to import more than half of the volume and they can't just do without the Dutch product. Some set grower are harvesting their last tomatoes of the season this week. It's always good to see how soon everything is blooming again and how we are able to supply the first tomatoes grown under light before the end of the year again."
Now VMP is preparing for the import vegetable season. "We don't expect to be quiet this winter. The first courgettes, aubergines and cucumbers have already been loaded in Spain and we expect the first Moroccan tomatoes this week too. Because we are taking care of an increasing amount of mix loads, our customers continued to buy from us weekly even in the winter season. We are importing more and more ourselves from Spain, Morocco, Perpignan, Italy, Egypt, Turkey and Poland," says Lennart. "We often find the Moroccan tomatoes have a stronger quality for export than the Spanish tomatoes, but it is the opposite for peppers. This way we can always make a good mix for our customers in the Netherlands," says Lennart.
He doesn't expect Brexit to have much impact on their export. "Of course we're keeping a close eye on it, just like the pound, which has been going up and down this year. But although the United Kingdom is producing more and more themselves, they will still always need to import more than half of the volume and they can't just do without the Dutch product. Some set grower are harvesting their last tomatoes of the season this week. It's always good to see how soon everything is blooming again and how we are able to supply the first tomatoes grown under light before the end of the year again."
Now VMP is preparing for the import vegetable season. "We don't expect to be quiet this winter. The first courgettes, aubergines and cucumbers have already been loaded in Spain and we expect the first Moroccan tomatoes this week too. Because we are taking care of an increasing amount of mix loads, our customers continued to buy from us weekly even in the winter season. We are importing more and more ourselves from Spain, Morocco, Perpignan, Italy, Egypt, Turkey and Poland," says Lennart. "We often find the Moroccan tomatoes have a stronger quality for export than the Spanish tomatoes, but it is the opposite for peppers. This way we can always make a good mix for our customers in the Netherlands," says Lennart.
Polish import
"We started up our Polish import last year including peppers, tomatoes and apples. We will be receiving the last truck peppers this week, but the supply of tomatoes will run until at least the end of the month. This season we received up to four or five trucks per week from Poland a lot of customers know where to find us for this reason. The price is slightly lower than the Dutch product and is seen as more of a Class II product due to the shape deviations. A lot of green peppers are still grown out on the field, so not in tunnels. The Polish tomato cultivation is modernising. We worked with a very good grower this season, who had a great variety for export that our customers could work with well."
"All in all we are growing quickly both on the product and customer side. This also resulted in Marco de Jong joining our team, who really adds value with his wide knowledge of languages. We are hoping to speak to many new and existing contacts during the Fruit Attraction in Madrid this week, so that we can expand our streams even further and, if we can supply our customers with the best quality for the best price, even better. We look toward the future with optimism. We are a fun, small team, work independently and grow with our customers. As long as our customers, growers and suppliers are satisfied, we are too!".
For more information:
Lennart Middelburg
Vegetables Market Place
ABC Westland 313
2685 DD Poeldijk
Tel: 0031 174527130
Mob: 0031 622509817
lm@vmpbv.nl
www.vmpbv.nl
For more information:
Lennart Middelburg
Vegetables Market Place
ABC Westland 313
2685 DD Poeldijk
Tel: 0031 174527130
Mob: 0031 622509817
lm@vmpbv.nl
www.vmpbv.nl