“By now, many know to call me when there’s a shortage or surplus”

Although trained as a psychosocial counsellor, Geeske van Wijk has been working as a commission agent in field vegetables since 2014. She started selling to individuals more than a decade ago, sourcing vegetables from local growers. In this way, she built up a grower network and soon the question arose whether she could also supply larger volumes, after which she launched Ambiona as a BV in 2021. "That's how I went from a private route to the pallet trade, and now the trade goes out with full trucks at a time."

Field vegetables have been Ambiona's spearhead from the start. "I also sell fruit, but outdoor vegetables are really my speciality. That also suits me best, after all, we have the Biesbosch as our backyard here. I know my way around cabbages, carrots, parsnips, and celeriac. My mission is to get people to eat more Brussels sprouts in summer. People still really see Brussels sprouts as a winter product, but they are also great to eat in summer."

Just go!
This year, yields are big across the board in outdoor vegetables. For Geeske, this is reason to broaden her horizons further. "I already supply customers all over Europe, but I am also fully exploring opportunities overseas. Why limit yourself to the Netherlands or Europe when there are so many more opportunities worldwide? Besides, I enjoy going all over the world. And I speak several languages, which is a big advantage. I had already made the necessary contacts in markets like Asia and Canada, but the big European harvest has accelerated this." When asked how the Brabant native tackled this, she replied, "Just go! With just the internet and a phone, you can do plenty of trading these days."

Geeske stands firm for her growers. "I can take it very badly that there are companies that stunt prices at the expense of the growers, while it is the growers who have taken care of their crop all year with all the care and attention. I am now more at my desk, but I have walked in the fields with my dredging boots enough to know what is involved. So I always make a case for a fair price. It has to be affordable for everyone, for consumers, but also for growers. I prefer to work directly with processors or supermarkets. So switching as quickly as possible, but with as few links in the chain as possible, because that only makes a product more expensive."

"Free trade is fun, of course, but also very fickle. That's why you see the demand for continuity increasing. What I like best is to find an owner for the product when there is a surplus. Can't, doesn't exist with me. I like it best when something seems impossible and I manage to do it anyway. By now, people know that if they have a shortage or too much product, they have to call that Brabanter," laughs Geeske, who is now assisted in the trade by her middle daughter. "Our strength is precisely that we remain small-scale and human and can switch quickly. I don't need a mega office building and a big hall. Then I would precisely lose the power of simplicity."

From assistance to trade
Before Geeske ended up in the vegetable trade, she worked as a psychosocial care worker and visited multi-problem families in Rotterdam and its surroundings at home. The transition from assistance to trade may seem large, but she says it is not that big. "In both worlds, it's all about empathy and standing firm. But in my previous job, I really had to deal with families who had gone off the rails. Those were sometimes tough cases, and the only tools you have are yourself. In fresh produce, things can also get tough at times, but you get back to the point fairly easily. I find it easier to work in that respect."

That the fresh produce trade would be a tough world, she says, is a misconception. "I come from a real trading family and feel like a fish in water there. If there is something, you talk it out and move on, because somewhere you meet again anyway. Good negotiation requires empathy. In my experience, fresh produce is not a tough world, but one in which it is all about trust. You have to be trustworthy and open. In mediation, I therefore always work in a triangular relationship. The customer knows which growers the product comes from, and vice versa, the grower knows who the customer is. In the end, what matters is that both are satisfied. Together you get further; a deal should not be at the expense of one over the other, because you won't achieve anything that way."