"Combination of fruit and vegetables, plus mushrooms, works perfectly"

Although Autumn is, by far, the busiest period for mushroom sales, Dylan Ruyken of Ryken Wholesalers, says sales are satisfactory. He represents the third generation Of Ruykens at this company, located in the Foodcenter in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. "Wild mushrooms a somewhat hard to come by and this ensures high prices. There is more availability of regular mushrooms but they are still selling at a good price."

"Over the last few years we have seen a marked increased demand for the Asian varieties. These include the Eryngii, Shiimeji, and Shiitake", says Dylan. Ruyken sells their assortment to a wide base of customers. They range from retailers, speciality shops, market traders and those in the catering industry. This company also supplies fellow wholesalers throughout the Netherlands. "Nowadays we are active in Belgium. More and more orders are placed by the hospitality industry via the internet."

Ruyken gets most of their mushrooms from their own growers. In most cases, they have been in partnership for many years. "In addition to our wholesale trade in mushrooms, bean sprouts, sprout products, and Chinese vegetables, we also supply the Dutch hospitality industry with fruit and vegetables. This combination works perfectly", Dylan says. "This ensures a good spread of activities. In the summer, the trade in mushrooms is traditionally quieter. It picks up again in the autumn."

Besides mushrooms, the wholesaler from Amsterdam also focuses on bean sprouts. "You would be amazed to see how much of this gets eaten. I think we sell between 1, 000 and 1,5000 kg of bean sprouts on a daily basis. This is, primarily, to Asian restaurants in 10 kg bags, but also in small packs to supermarkets. The bean spout market is faring exceptionally well at the moment", concludes the trader.