"Surely you are not going to cut up those beautiful carrots I deliver." That was the reaction of Ingrid Bruin's grandfather when he was asked to start delivering his carrots pre-cut. Jan, Ingrid's father, immediately saw an opportunity, marking Bruin Vegetables' transition from a traditional horticultural company to a processing company. With the slicing operations, the family business thus expanded into the market for ready-to-eat vegetables.
© Bruin Vegetables
Jan and Ingrid Bruin
Today, Bruin Vegetables from Dirkshorn focuses entirely on washing, processing, and packaging vegetables for wholesalers and cutting companies. Regular customers include cutter Heemskerk and wholesaler Boekel. Carrots are still the main product at the family business, but the range has been expanded with so-called forgotten vegetables such as parsnip and parsley root.
© Bruin Vegetables
"We don't grow our own produce, but focus purely on processing. In doing so, we cooperate with growers throughout the country, whether from Noord-Holland, Zeeland, Limburg, or the Noordoostpolder, with whom we mostly work on a contract basis," says Ingrid. "We mainly buy the vegetables af land and arrange our own transport."
© Bruin Vegetables
Hutspot and fresh vegetable packs
© Bruin VegetablesWinter is the busiest period for the processor, when demand for stews and fresh vegetable mixes is high. In spring, the focus shifts somewhat to forgotten vegetables. Summer is traditionally a quieter period, allowing more time for maintenance, and then in autumn the harvest season begins again. "But we supply 365 days a year," says Ingrid.
After a difficult sales period, the carrot market has taken a surprising turn in the past two weeks. "Prices were really moderate, but have increased sharply in a short time," Ingrid says. She notes that sales of coloured carrots vary greatly from year to year. "One year, yellow sells better, the next year purple performs more strongly. When fresh packs were on the rise, sales of coloured carrots also grew rapidly. That has now stabilised again."
Recently, the vegetable processor has been focusing on automating its processes. For example, a new palletiser was recently delivered by Verbruggen, and Bruin is also exploring optical sorting options. "This is how we continue to develop. Consumers are increasingly opting for convenience and high quality. We can provide that. After all, we remove what no one wants on their plate," concludes Ingrid.
For more information:
Bruin Vegetables
Woudmeerweg 13
1746 CD Dirkshorn
Mob: +31 (0) 6-13619229
[email protected]
www.bruinvegetables.nl
