Rinelink Ltd offers a wide range of fresh produce, grown without recourse to conventional pesticides. With offices in Hamburg and storage facilities in De Lier, Holland they are ideally located to distribute imported fruits and vegetables across Europe. Under the brand name ISA-Fresh, the company imports a range of fresh food items, from various countries such as Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Thailand, Pakistan and India.
In addition to the Indian imports Rinelink Ltd is also importing a range of produce from South Africa - baby vegetables.
The vegetables in question are selected with a focus on quality and are grown to GlobalGAP standards. They are hand picked and packed before being exported to markets globally.
Amongst the vegetables in the baby range can be found a diverse array, including marrows, patty pan yellow/green, cabbages (red, green, white, savoy), fennel, turnips, carrots and aubergines. The company began importing baby veg from both South Africa and Swaziland back in 2003. They are now importing around 4.5 tons per week from South Africa - 3 tons of which are destined for the European market. The rest is sold to the Middle East. In the European markets the veg is sold to importers for wider distribution, whilst that which goes to the Middle East is sold direct to hotels.
Jaswinder, of Rinelink Ltd, says of the supply from South Africa. "There is growth in certain areas of the baby veg sector, carrots, marrow and both yellow and green patty pan, this is particularly clear over the Christmas and Easter seasons."However, the most pressing issue is not increasing the supply, but rather in ensuring its consistency. As Jaswinder says, "It is not possible to get certain varieties from the same area throughout the year, due to climatic conditions - these are very sensitive products - and we are doing all we can to stabilise regular supplies."
He says that the supply is as good as it can be from South Africa currently. "At present all is well organised and all the farms are GlobalGAP certified."However, there is a possibility that South Africa may face competition in this area in the future. Jaswinder says that South America produces a small amount of baby veg and experiments are already under way to see if cultivation is viable in both North and East Africa.
For more information:
Rinelink
Tel: +49-40-38902922
Mob: +49 – 175 41 45 45 0
Fax: +49-40-38902924
info@rinelink.com
www.rinelink.com