Whereas ordinarily the import of typical Italian vegetables starts to get going at the end of the year, the sales haven't picked up yet. "The weather is too good. There is a lot of product available from Italy and the season of Dutch and German fennel and German rettich have lasted for too long. They are in each other's way at the moment. We're waiting for it to turn cold. If we have two days of night frost, it will improve," concludes Frits de Mooij of Vita Verde.
Vita Verde was founded in 2013. "Most of our assortment we get directly from Italian growers, supplemented by Dutch cresses and herbs. Lettuce varieties come from Italy all year round. We carry products like rettich and fennel until the start of the year," says Frits. He is satisfied with the growth his company is going through. "We're growing nicely. We recently moved to an office in Noordwijk and I also employed someone."
"Whereas there used to be just a few specialised players in the market for Italian vegetables, you can now see the competition increase. This is being made easier as it is possible to import smaller volumes. This does mean the prices are lightly pressured, but on the other hand you see that specialism is still appreciated. Although our roots are in Italian lettuce varieties, we are receiving more and more demand from our clients for other fruit and vegetable varieties from Italian soil. We have customers throughout Europe. We do a lot contracts with supermarkets, but also supply a lot of Dutch exporters and can send mixed pallets to Iceland or the Eastern Block just as easily," concludes Frits.
For more information:Frits de Mooij
Vita Verde
De Hooge Krocht 68
2201 TZ Noordwijk
Mob: 0031 (0) 6-25166725
frits@vita-verde.it
www.vita-verde.it