“We want to start serving retail, as well as wholesalers”

Elite Foods primarily supplies tomatoes and cucumbers to German wholesalers. The company is active in Frankfurt, but also supplies to other parts in Germany. “Besides wholesalers, we also want to start serving retail. We’re currently working on attaining the right certification for this, so that we can extend our clientele,” says Hassan Akarca.

“We grew by ten per cent compared to last year, thanks to good market conditions and our enthusiastic team,” Hassan continues. “We became known for the Flandria Elite tomatoes. Dutch and Belgian tomatoes are much better in quality than Spanish, Turkish or Moroccan tomatoes. Our cucumbers are also becoming increasingly better known.”

Elite Foods tries to import as little as possible during the winter months. “The products outside of the Netherlands and Belgium are cheaper and our customers would prefer the cheaper products, while we’d rather offer quality.” According to Hassan, the prospects of the Dutch and Belgian greenhouse vegetable season are very good. “Quality of the illuminated production is very good. In the Netherlands and Belgium, products from greenhouses are becoming better and better, because of the experience and innovations of Dutch and Belgian greenhouses,” he says.