Fine Fruit Company has been in Poeldijk, the Netherlands, for two years. It is the Dutch branch of the French premium supermarket Grand Frais. "We're the perfect mix of a small organization's personal involvement and a large company's professionalism," says Almir Dedovic, who has handled the supermarket chain's overseas imports for many years. This chain, whose stores resemble covered fresh produce markets, focuses on firsts and premium quality.
Fine Fruit Company occupies a 2,000 m2 building - G. van der Linden's former location - at ABC Westland in Poeldijk. It has been updated, and five ripening cells and three cold stores were installed. Next year, however, Fine Fruit Company hopes to move into a new building of its own on the same site.
"We have a twofold function in the Netherlands. We import avocados in close consultation with the buying team in Lyon and Paris. And we're a cross-dock center for all Grand Frais' overseas fruit arriving at the Rotterdam port. We also provide additional services like ripening and packaging."
"In purchasing, we focus entirely on avocados, but we could, in time, add other exotics to the package," explains Almir. According to him, the avocado market has not been easy.
"The season ended early in Spain, Israel, and Morocco. Peru started early, but with their weather conditions - it rained heavily - things were hard."
"So, for a while, we were working with four, five origins at once. I'm happy that it's May, and prices are finally starting to fall slightly," Almir concludes.
For more information:
Almir Dedovic,
Fine Fruits Company
340 ABC Westland
2685 DD, Poeldijk, NL
Email: almir.dedovic@finefruitscompany.nl.
Website: www.grandfrais.com