"Four years ago it was difficult for consumers to get hold of ginger. Now you can buy it in every supermarket", says Sophie Ye of KX Food. This Belgian company is one of the largest importers of ginger in Europe. "A lot of ginger goes to the Scandinavian countries, Germany, and the southern European countries. Ginger consumption is very high in the Netherlands and Belgium and is increasing by the year. At the moment, 80% of the ginger we import, is conventional ginger. We import between five and ten containers per week. We are, however, noticing that the market is increasingly demanding organic ginger. The quality of this type of ginger is also continuously improving."
This family business also offers Chinese pomelos, garlic, chestnuts, starfruit and pears. "These other products are side-products. Ginger is our main product. We import only small quantities of chestnuts and starfruit. We import about 50 containers of pomelos per year. It is a difficult product, so we are increasingly focused on ginger. We have 20 years of ginger importing experience. Our attention in the coming period will be on quality and varied packaging choices." According to Sophie, "We want to offer ginger smaller packaging, especially for the with retail market. This is in addition to the two, three and five kg packs we already sell."
Besides China, Peru is also a significant ginger supplier. KX Food has little competition from this country. "Chinese ginger is different to Peruvian ginger. Chinese ginger is juicier and has larger 'fingers' than those from Peru. There is a market for both kinds of ginger but Chinese ginger is always popular", says the KX Food employee. In the future, this company wants to focus on further expanding their range. This is in addition to paying attention to quality and the expansion of their packaging options. "We are currently awaiting containers with purple sweet potatoes. We also want to import Chinese kiwis in the future", concludes Sophie.
For more information:
KX Food
Sophie Ye
103 Kleine Veerle
2960 Brecht - Belgium
+32(0)332 687 54