Irish multi-national Total Produce has made major changes in its organisation over the past few months by bringing together 35 technical managers across Europe, some existing members of staff and some new hires. It consists of product quality experts, agronomists and customer experts.
Jelger De Vriend, Managing Director of Total Produce Direct, explains that very few companies have this pan European aspect to the business. "This new structure allows us to create added value, we have experts on the ground who know a lot about fruit, for example, shelf-life, production, development of new varieties, packaging etc. and are perfectly placed to speak directly to the customer."
De Vriend explains that every market is unique and every consumer has different demands, "Total Produce Direct is now in the position to talk to consumers, customers and seed breeders in various countries to produce the right product."
Drew Reynolds is leading the technical team, he has extensive experience with the UK retailers. Drew works closely with Total Produce's partners in production and customers in retail and food service.The UK market has historically had a strong focus on technical management of fresh produce. To be able to make that expertise available for other businesses in the Group is a unique opportunity according to Jelger.
"Traditional short-term relationships are no longer sufficient in European retail," explains Drew. "Total Produce is entering sustainable partnerships with retailers and growers, this is the only way to improve the quality of our produce with complete traceability. The biggest success in UK retail has been with category managers."
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For more information:
Samreen Ibrahim
Total Produce Direct
Tel: +31(0)6 835 279 73
Email: sibrahim@totalproduce.com