"Ramadan has limited influence on date sales but year-round turnover on the rise"

Ramadan is having less influence on the trade of dried fruit and nuts than in the past. This is according to Richard Strijbis of Tovano. This company is based in Maasdijk, the Netherlands. "Earlier you had to make sure you had a few truckloads of extra dates on hand for Ramadan. This is less so now. Some people celebrate this time more fervently than others. This has a negative influence on our trade. Despite this, we are not dissatisfied with the volumes", says Richard. 

 

For that matter, date sales are not affected by this. "We now have dates from Israel and Tunisia. It has become much more of a year-round endeavour", he says. "Clients are far more concerned with healthy eating. Here, dates benefit as they are a healthy, popular product. Currently, the demand for dates is going well. This is also the case with figs. Although, sales of these are not going smoothly."

Very hot weather used to mean a very quiet time in the nuts trade. This is a thing of the past. "When I started trading, we used to have really quiet days during the summer. That has really changed", says Richard. "We do offer a wide variety of products that can be used in salads. This includes pine nuts, figs, apricots, walnuts and so on. Walnut sales, in their shell as well as unshelled, sell very well at this time of year."

 

Another product group that is seeing an upward trend is sugarfree dried fruit. This includes mango, apple and pineapple pieces from South Africa. "Some clients still baulk at the prices. These products are, however, delicious. They also fit in perfectly with the trend toward healthy snacks", concludes Richard.

For more information:
Richard Strijbis
Tovano
47 Transportweg
4676 LM Maasdijk
Tel.: + 31 (0) 174 528 333
Fax: + 31 (0) 174 528 001