The Portuguese sweet potato season is currently coming on strong at East4Fresh. "Other Mediterranean countries have stopped delivering and we are pretty much the only ones left with good quality in both organic and conventional," Helien Verhagen says.
The company has spearheaded the cultivation of organic sweet potatoes in Portugal. "In recent years, our conventional planting has grown by 25% every year, but our biggest growth is in organic," Helien says.
The current sweet potato season continues from November to June. New organic sweet potatoes will also be planted again in May and June. "This year we can look forward to a good harvest, both in terms of quality and kilos with a high yield per hectare. The price level is also good and we have all size grades available for our customers."
"Our advantage is that this allows us to provide continuity. We therefore really seek expansion with customers who can plan ahead and do not want to be a short-term supplier," Helien says. "Our biggest customers for the organic sweet potatoes are in Germany and the Netherlands."
Since this year, East4Fresh has had its sweet potatoes packaged at Van de Weerd in Lelystad. Earlier, the company introduced a cardboard 750-gram retail packaging for 3 to 4 medium sweet potatoes on a tray, but according to Helien, sales of plastic-free packaging are not really taking off yet. "Organic customers in particular are trying to reduce packaging use and are more likely to ask for them in net packaging."
Sweet potatoes are traditionally less of an Easter item, according to Helien. "Over this period, people are more likely to eat potatoes with asparagus, but after the Easter weekend, sweet potatoes will undoubtedly return to the menu."
For more information:
Helien Verhagen 
East4Fresh
+31 (0)6 83 24 46 61
helien@east4fresh.nl
www.east4fresh.nl