"Untreated Greek citrus is distinctive in flavour"

Although Ad Pollux said farewell to the daily fresh produce trade to work, among other things, as a business acquisitor for the Venlo municipality a number of years ago, he never truly left the fresh produce sector either. “Ever since I worked for Van Rijn, for whom I also worked in Romania for a while, I always maintained a network of retailers in Southeastern Europe and producers from Greece.”

“When a friendly Greek grower approached me this spring to sell his watermelons, I couldn’t deny what’s in my blood,” Ad says. “It went well and the focus of sales was on retailers in Southeastern European countries, such as Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, but also Austria and Poland. Besides, a few cars would go the Netherlands on commission every week, which were sold, to my satisfaction, by my friends from Aqui Fruit & Greens.”

“A different Greek packing station has now also asked me to partly take care of the sales of their citrus. That season is now starting. At first they were very optimistic about their harvest, but those prognoses have been adjusted somewhat, and the supply of large sizes is limited,” Ad says. “It was unusually cold in production area Peloponnesos, and the summer was extremely warm.” The products find their way to retail in Central and Southeastern Europe in particular, and to the Baltic countries. Scandinavia is also starting to show an interest.

“Until January we’ll have oranges available in Navelina, Lane Late and Navel, and in tangerines we’ll have the varieties Clementine and Ortanique, which will be followed by Valencia later in the season,” Ad says. According to him, the Greek citrus is distinctive purely because of its flavour. “The citrus isn’t cooked, and is of good eating quality. The growers walk among the trees with their brix gauge, to decide the correct time for picking. The climate in Peloponnesos is ideal for flavourful products. The packing station and producers naturally have all the necessary certificates required nowadays to supply to international retail.”