Véronique Ama Eggley is a wholesaler of organic exotic fruits and vegetables. Her company, Bio Perfect, imports all its products from Africa, the continent where Véronique was born. "I was already working in the organic fruit and vegetable sector when I was young, in the company of my German adoptive father: Bio Norm. I was mainly in charge of fruit quality control.” After that, Véronique worked as a stylist. However, it’s always been her intention to supply the world with good food products. "One day, I came across the CEO of Leclerc. I presented my project of organic products to him, and he wanted to work with me. After that, things went really fast.”
Véronique in a Leclerc store, with pineapples from Togo
Bio Perfect offers pineapples, mangoes, bananas, papayas, beans, ginger and soon avocados. The company only offers fresh products. "When you say fresh, we really mean fresh: the fruits are picked today. Tomorrow they’d be at the airport, being sent to France directly. If the fruits were transported by boat it wouldn’t be worth it."
According to Véronique, the benefits of African products are great. "Africans do everything by hand, because they don’t have machines. This provides a different product with a very rich taste. The climate is very good as well, and we don’t use any chemicals at all. In short, African production is a very natural production." Véronique cooperates directly with producers.
Pineapples are picked when ripe, and delivered by plane
Véronique imports bananas from Togo, where she also grows her own products, from Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea. "Competition in Africa is tough: there are producers who do not want to sell their products to me, because they sell them directly to European customers."
Apart from the Cayenne pineapple, Véronique offers a whole new variety: the sugarloaf pineapple, which is called the "l’ananas bouteille (bottle pineapple)" by the French, thanks to its shape. "It's a really good pineapple. It’s all green, but sweeter than the Cayenne pineapple. The variety isn’t well known in France yet, but it's on the rise. Consumers should understand that ‘truly organic’ doesn’t have to be yellow. Even my three-year-old loves this pineapple, and the students at his school too."
Sugarloaf pineapple; “l’ananas bouteille”
"Our papayas are small. They are more tasty than the big papayas, and also more durable. Unfortunately, the French don’t know the small papayas much yet, and therefore the demand for this product is low.”
Small organic papayas
"My clients love my products as well as the good service, and my business is expanding. I have always imported fruit only per order, but now I am installing a deposit.” As for the future, Veronique has many plans. "I want to produce tropical fruits here in France. I am a daring woman, and I tend to dream big. It's in my head; we'll see what comes of it. I also want to offer local French products, offering the whole organic range."
"The market of organic products in France is booming; less than five years ago, the organic trend was initiated in France everywhere. Even traders who were opposed to organic products have changed their minds, and are marketing organic fruits and vegetables now. The price difference between conventional and organic isn’t that big."
Unfortunately, Véronique's adoptive father passed away. "He was very nice. I do everything because of him too. To supply the world with organic products was his dream.”
