“The French prefer French and local products, and we, some producers and the auction of Roeselare, responded to this by starting to sell French product. We currently work with 42 producers in France,” says Guy de Meyer of Demargro. “Every weekend, three trucks filled with French leeks arrive, which we offer to our French customers. We pack the leeks as to the customer’s wishes, and we guarantee the leeks comes from the Picardie region.”
“We received a lot of demand from French customers to pack leek with their own packaging, labels, quality and barcodes. Some customers do want Belgian product, but most prefer French product. The way we can compete with French leek is at price level,” Guy says. “Evaluating the last two months, we were at roughly the same level as Belgian leek. Based on this, we can offer an interesting price for the French.”
Consumption
The exporter sees the consumption of leek increasing in Belgium, France and neighbouring countries. “In the past, leek was only used in soup. Nowadays it’s also used more often in fish and meat dishes. Retailers are also putting the product in the spotlight more, particularly in winter. Besides, retail has more and more promotions as well, and each retailer wants the leek packed differently, which is a positive evolution. Looking at the current situation, leek consumption will only continue to increase in the coming years,” Guy says.
Winter tomatoes
Besides leek, Demargro also expects to sell other products this way in France. “We’re looking into offering tomatoes of French origin in our assortment next year as well. We’re getting more and more demand for these. We’re trying to respond to demand of our customers, and to serve them with products they want. We currently do a lot of strawberries, lettuce and top fruit towards France, but this is still Belgian product. We can now also offer red, white and green cabbages, and we’re definitely planning on expanding our French range,” Guy concludes.
For more information:
Guy de Meyer
Demargro
Tombrugstraat 11
8850 Ardooie, Belgium
guy.de.meyer@demargro.be
www.demargro.be